How did YOU move to SF?

[sliverbox]

Silverbox it is so oddly coincidental you mentioned Austin! I was hashing my moving woes out with a good friend last night and he suggested Austin for the reasons you mentioned. I prefer a liberal environment so I automatically crossed anywhere in Texas off the move list, but apparently its really progressive there. The cost of living was also comparable to Albuquerque so I can actually afford it, too! We're going to visit in April sometime, so who knows, maybe that could work too.

Here's the thing I've found out about Austin: Its pretty difficult to find work there. I'm fairly senior in my field bu the competition for jobs for similar positions in Austin was fairly fierce. Its also not super cheap by Texas standards. That and it gets HOT there. Locals told us it gets up to over 100 degrees and stays that was for a good part of the summer. So the change would be pretty drastic for us. It was a liberal city. But the city itself is relatively small. It rapidly turns into subdivisions as soon as you leave the immediate city. The advantage for us is that we could buy a house there for under $200k. That and its a younger city which would fit us well given our age.

I think you'll find that no matter where you go most major cities are somewhat liberal. Thus there are many, many alternatives to choose from out there versus just sticking to the coasts.

[BohemianV]

Will landlords rent to you if they know you don't have a job? Or should I just lie and pretend I have one??

I'm pretty good at living cheap, but the rent thing scares me the most!

[mayorhaggar]

You should try and get a job lined up before you move. Landlords will usually be a little nosy about your job but some are pretty hands-off. If you have savings, you might want to offer to pay a few months of rent in advance if they have a problem with you not having a job. Also if you searched for roommates you might have better luck but in this economy a lot of people looking for roommates insist on people with jobs.

[loveack]

Dear Fellow Ohioan -

I am a transplant from Northeast Ohio and have been here 3 years. When I was asking questions on these forums, most people on these boards said what those who replied to you said. Don't do it.

NOTE: This is not a "do not move here" kinda post...you asked a question and I am going to answer it

HOW we moved here. We made the decision to move here based on 1) a love for the Bay Area 2) better opportunities for our children and 3) get the f*%$ out of Ohio.

We saved up as much money as we could (>$15K) over about 6 months and I started sending resumes. And I did get bites...probably about 10 interviews while still in Cleveland. 1 company actually flew me out and did end up hiring me. We had the money saved to get out here and ended up getting a sublet from craigslist that was a studio that ran about $1800 a month in the city. I believe the ONLY reason we got the sublet was because I had a job. Otherwise, I can't even imagine....

Item #1: Save a LOT of money to get started (deposits, rent, furnishings, etc...)..if it take you a year....2 years....3 years..doesn't matter..being homeless is not ideal for obvious reasons.

Item #2: Have a job waiting for you

It is possible to hook up with roommates through craigslist, etc...but not having a job isn't going to make you very attractive to potential roomies, especially since so many people ARE coming here WITH nicely paying tech jobs :P

So you can do it if you have the items above.

Having said THAT, and having been here for the past 3 years, I cannot wait to move OUT of San Francisco.....but not out of the Bay Area. I have the same "complaints" others who live here in the city have for the most part: high rent, too much fog, high rent, declining economy, high rent. But it's one of those experiences I highly recommend.....

I couldn't imagine a better place to live than here and encourage you to research your opportunities, save your dollars and network with others in your industry out here.

Best of luck.