Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/25/tech-for-good.html
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First, New York has a long-standing history as a city with the most diverse population of human capital in the world.
As Wikipedia would put it, [citation needed]. Even if we are just talking about the US, I have a hard time believing that the Disneyland for the rich that is modern NYC is more diverse (by whatever criterion) than, say, Chicago.
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Okay, NYC, you’re on. I’m a resident of Silicon Valley who is extremely irritated that he pulls down a fairly decent salary but still can’t afford to buy a house within reasonable commuting distance of his workplace. Can you offer me (a) a programming job with an extremely large, stable tech company that gives me a comparable salary to what I have now (at least low six figures), (b) a house in a decent neighborhood for $600k or less (a real house, not a stinking condo or apartment), and © a one-way commute time of less than 45 minutes?
I have my doubts. But I grant you that I’m a bit unusual, in that I despise shared dwellings and that I don’t consider multi-hour commutes to be acceptable.
The big advantage I’ve found of working in Silicon Valley is that if I need to look for a new job, there are a hundred other interesting companies that are hiring.
And the last two economic downturns were somewhat muted here in Silicon Valley compared to the rest of the US. We still felt it, but we didn’t feel it anywhere near as bad as I saw my relatives feel it in other parts of the US. (NJ and MI being the areas I had the most second hand knowledge about)
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You can stay in Silicon Valley.
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Perhaps NYC is trying to do what Mr. Robot’s Elliot is currently trying to do with E-Corp, removing the craptacular employees and replacing them with more (relatively speaking) honest ones.
NYC is terribly expensive and there are indeed parts of Manhattan (and increasingly Brooklyn) that have effectively become exclusive playgrounds for the rich. But get out of those neighborhoods (or just go under them, on the subway) and you’ll find one of the most diverse populations of any city on earth. There are probably as many languages spoken in the Brooklyn Ikea on a given day as there are in the whole city of Chicago (yes I’m exaggerating, but not much).
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It’s a truism, but if you bill yourself as “the. Ext Silicon Valley”, you’re a pathetic also-ran.
This is as sad as when Indiana put a billboard up on 101.
Being Republican Indiana they completely stepped on their own message. The billboards offered tech jobs with short commutes, but the website boasted “loyal employees” and low wages (because there’s no place to go). Essentially the entire website was aimed at business cost cutting. Bonus point for using “information technology”. http://www.iedc.in.gov/industries/information-technology
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NYC isn’t just Manhattan. Queens in particular is home to immigrants from almost every country on the globe, not all of them wealthy.
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Can’t offer you a job, but here’s the latter 2. 3BR $625k, 1/2 hr to Manhattan. I know a programmer making $170k who lives down the street. Jersey City is the most diverse place in the country by many metrics. Jersey City regains title as most diverse city in U.S.: study - nj.com
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Come to Chicago.
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This is funny! I looked at that house last weekend to buy! The building is well maintained, has a great back yard, and the garden level is basically a very large open room that could be converted into a studio apartment or art studio.
So yes @Brian_Shock, you can get a nice place for around $600k. And I’ll even buy you a coffee at an awesome little place down the street.
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No, but greater Boston may have something for you, if you like snow.
That’s hysterical. I just pulled it from a random zipcode search as a great example of value. IMO the Heights is the greatest “undiscovered” neighborhood in that commute range. Same house in Red Hook with a similar commute would cost you 3x. Plus you’re virtually in Hoboken.
Hah! Here in Melbourne, Oz, peeps on five figures are paying $1M for ordinary homes.
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Have you ever been to New York?
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Also, t-shirt weather 300 days a year.
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Yes. And been to Chicago. Which I think a lot of East Coasters haven’t. Seriously, it is much more of a real “city” than NYC is. Yes, it has a crime problem, which NYC used to have. But NYC basically fixed that by making it so expensive to live there that the lower classes who actually have an incentive to commit crime (of the non white-collar sort) don’t live there any more.
@jhbadger I’ve lived here over 30 years, and I’m sorry, but you actually have no idea what you’re talking about. Yes, Manhattan is quite the wealthy place, but NYC is a very big town to generalize about like you have. And, yes, I’ve been to Chicago a number of times. And the same conclusions of wealth and homogeneity could be made by someone who has only been to a certain few neighborhood there.
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Sounds tough.
In Philly, on that - you could only live in one of the most desirable neighborhoods in a historic federal era home.
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