I’m considering to move out from Bay Area. I’m a SWE currently working at a startup so living in a city which has good tech presence is important. I have Austin and Seattle in mind. Which place would you guys think is best for raising family? I’m inclined towards Seattle as you can have a good outdoor life, national parks, ski resorts etc so you can take your kids around but people complain about the gloomy weather also blind communtiy has no love for Seattle if I search through previous posts. If you consider Austin, yes the housing prices are cheap but I guess there is no good outdoor life as there are not many parks around or things to do.
Share your opinions folks.
PS: Please state your reasons while voting
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I mean hoping to avoid traffic and hopefully a place close to restaurants and shopping. What are some neighborhoods to consider?
I don’t want to completely tear Seattle sort, though, because there are definitely some good things about the Seattle life. Here are some positives:
- lots of hikes (although most are 1+ hour drive outside of the city)
- lots of skiing (must drive at least an hour outside of the city for it though)
- lots of water activities in the summer (lakes, the sound)
- not too hot in the summer
Other cons:
- cost of living: INSANELY high. Much higher than I thought it’d be, especially compared to other big tech cities
- traffic: takes my coworkers 45mins - 1 hour to drive a couple of miles to work.
- Seattle freeze: absolutely real. Doesn’t bother me very much, but I’ve talked to others that it really bothers.
- SeaTac airport: gets super crowded and TSA lines take forever which makes traveling less enticing
- living in the suburbs on the east side is nice until you realize that you have to hop on one of the busiest highways in the city and that stretch of highway alone takes over an hour to commute into city most of the time
Adjusted for COL you’ll find Austin actually pays better than Seattle.
Great education system, public schools in Austin. UT as well.
If you're making 400k in Seattle, that is not equivalent to making 250k in Austin unless you are living super large
1. You seem to acknowledge a baseline difference. I.e Austin 250k is better than Seattle 250k. That’s a good start.
2. Someone making 250k in Austin would be make 400k in Seattle. That’s a tough sell, do you have data to back this claim? Levels.fyi doesn’t reflect this. I see about a 80k-100k difference on levels.fyi. Also, anecdotally, I have a friend who makes 270 in Austin and would be making 360 if he had taken an equivalent role in Seattle. The disparity between my comparison and yours can make a big difference in this type of comparison.
3. You’re basically stating that COL simply amounts to mortgage and groceries. So does this mean you are strictly talking about a specific narrow segment of people who have no additional expenses? The OP is thinking about kids, how does that factor into COL? What about entertainment, eating out/drinking, events, etc? Car payments, health expenses? Taxes?
Companies often open there with big plans but then realize the labor base and infrastructure isn't as advertised so scale back, you'll end up being stuck in a small satellite office with no advancement.