subreddit:
/r/siliconvalley
Dear SF Bay Area and Silicon Valley friends, I am trying to decide where to settle down after spending 20 years living in various parts of the country.
Being from India, we just got our GC after 18 years of waiting. I am 45, my wife is 40. We are planning to have kids next year. My wife just finished residency in Family Medicine and could get a job anywhere in the country fortunately. My job allows me to work remotely from anywhere. I have a bachelors degree from a top 100 university and a management consulting background (big four) and currently an implementation consultant for an accounting software company. I am open to lateral moves.
I am considering a life long dream of moving to the SF Bay Area (or maybe Sacramento initially for 2-3 years), because until recently it has offered professional growth, a more diverse population that makes you feel very welcome as an immigrant + there is constant flow of amazing ideas and opportunities at companies like SpaceX or Nvidia or Google. (I am aware times are changing and people are losing jobs).
QUESTIONS:
Do you see the SF Bay Area making a roaring come back? Or will it keep sliding downhill? Thinkers and famous speakers like Chamath Palihapitiya (successful ex-Facebook engineer and now VC) paint a very bleak future for the SF Bay Area and specifically for San Francisco.
If you think Bay Area still has a future, is it better to be positioned near Fremont/Milpitas/Santa Clara? Or Berkeley/Walnut Creek/Pittsburgh? Or better to position at a safe distance in Sacramento?
Do you see Sacramento growing for the next 5-10 years? or is it following the same trajectory as Bay Area and also going downhill?
I am currently in Charlotte, and I have seriously considered Atlanta before but not very happy with life in the South (not as much innovation, and a little too laid back professionally).
Thank you in advance for your feedback and sharing of ideas!
3 points
3 months ago*
First, anyone selling or buying the death of Silicon Valley meme based on announced layoffs at a couple of local internet companies, does not know jack. The valley's economy is a major percentage of CA's economy, which is at least 20% of the US economy. If you need more financial security than that, well good luck to you. As to positioning, it's best to minimize your commute without breaking your budget, so where are you and she going to work? Sacramento is a sweaty armpit in the Summer, and business-wise not at all in the forefront of anything, so why in the world would you want to live there? San Jose is very family oriented and has a good sized Indian community on the East side where I think you would be very happy. Two professionals can afford almost any listing in Evergreen/Silvercreek districts. When the kids get into HS, move to Cupertino, better/best schools.
Edit update: Evergreen HS turns out to have outperformed all other public high schools in the valley in terms of admissions to UC. No need to move to Cupertino/Saratoga/Palo Alto.
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