10 things I will miss about SV (Napa, Monterey: to rent, new home, unemployed)

[treedonkey]

A couple weeks back, I posted the ten things I won;t moss when I move, which was a fun thread to watch. Now, here are the top ten things I will miss about Silicon Valley after I move:

1) Friends - We've had so many good ones here. They're sad for us to leave, and we're sad to leave them. But we hope to make new ones near our new home.

2) Our House - We had a nice little home here, but we had to rent the land for it and could not keep it long-term. We sure will miss that place, but we'll have a newer, better one where we're moving, which will make up for it.

3) Great Bay Area Attractions - Most notably: The city (SF), Monterey, Napa, Redwoods, Rocky Coastlines and, further afield, Yosemite, Tahoe, Big Sur and more.

4) Ethnic Food - We can probably search out some decent Mexican, and even Chinese restaurants in our new neighborhood, but it will be tough to find good spots for Indian, Japanese, Thai and so on.

5) Diversity - The various races, religions and nationalities add a unique blend of opinions and traditions to this area. I think the only place I've lived that was as diverse as here was the Washington DC area.

6) The Giants, or mostly just AT&T park - I just know Lincecum's gonna win Cy Young, they're gonna pick up some offense and they'll go all the way in '09 or '10. And, I'm gonna be like, 'dangit!' as I watch their games on the internet, wishing I could be sitting on the view level of the greatest ballpark in the world.

7) Jobs, jobs, jobs - There's a pretty good economy where we're moving to, but not like here. For anyone with some tech-industry experience, this place can't be beat for job security.

8) The Guadalupe River and Bay Trail - My solace, my reprieve, and my only escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

9) Good Freeways - even thoguh there's a lot less traffic where I'm moving, there's also only one freeway, and it's gets jammed up at rush hour. My favorite freeway is, of course, 280, between Los Altos and SF. Simply beautiful, and seldom log-jammed.

10) An economy fueled by innovation, invention, and ingenuity, as opposed to natural resources, military or finance.

So why am I moving? Check my 'things I won't miss' post for details, but really it comes down to the fact that we have an opportunity to, and a change will do us good. Hopefully it goes well.

[mrzod]

Goodluck, we'll miss you here! Check back often :P

[hsw]

Great observations...

Indeed, as a car nut, few places on planet as invigorating as 280 fwy on Peninsula...and the mountain twisties above SV....and SV's near-perfect yr-round weather for performance car driving....

Would disagree w/point 10.....suspect SV would be a shadow of its current, world-leading stature w/o the clever, risk-seeking venture capitalists of SandHill Road....and the many clever investment bankers, based in Manhattan and Menlo/SF, who are responsible for IPOs of tech cos. and to advise as tech cos. merge and acquire other cos....and the private equity shops on SandHill that are willing to buy tech cos. and parts of tech cos....

Efficient, liquid capital markets are the critical lifeblood of any powerful economy....and much of immense wealth of SV is derived from stock/stock option-derived wealth....NYC and SV are each arguably world's most powerful economies, but each industry/region depends on other in many, many ways...

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by hsw

Great observations...
Would disagree w/point 10.....suspect SV would be a shadow of its current, world-leading stature w/o the clever, risk-seeking venture capitalists of SandHill Road....and the many clever investment bankers, based in Manhattan and Menlo/SF, who are responsible for IPOs of tech cos. and to advise as tech cos. merge and acquire other cos....and the private equity shops on SandHill that are willing to buy tech cos. and parts of tech cos....

Efficient, liquid capital markets are the critical lifeblood of any powerful economy....and much of immense wealth of SV is derived from stock/stock option-derived wealth....NYC and SV are each arguably world's most powerful economies, but each industry/region depends on other in many, many ways...

I'm not sure I follow all of that, but I think you're saying that SV is not an economic island, which is true. It's just nice to have companies like Google, Apple, Adobe and countless others around as the biggest employers in town. You know, places built largely on invention, as opposed to just pillagers.

[hsw]

We're on same page...I admire both the tech and finance industry greatly for their innovations....

Sure, bad financiers just pillage and attempt to defraud investors, sort of like bad engineers who don't really add any innovation or engineer flawed products...

But it takes a clever, innovative venture capitalist to figure out how to invest early in what might be the future googles; those who prove to be talented VCs quickly become billionaires, like some of the guys on SandHill Rd.....

NYC is only other place on planet w/as many smart, innovative billionaires as SV...

[treedonkey]

It's not the number of billionaires that I appreciate, or how they became such -- I could care less how rich anyone is, or why -- it's their inventions that help me in my daily life that I really appreciate.

Think about it, just to be talking to you at all - I found this site through google search, I use an apple computer to access it, and adobe, well they don't come in to play right now, but anytime I view flash content they do.

[hsw]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

It's not the number of billionaires that I appreciate, or how they became such -- I could care less how rich anyone is, or why -- it's their inventions that help me in my daily life that I really appreciate.

Think about it, just to be talking to you at all - I found this site through google search, I use an apple computer to access it, and adobe, well they don't come in to play right now, but anytime I view flash content they do.

Indeed...

But know many engineers from the pre-SV era (perhaps pre-early '80s)...when smart, innovative engineers made very little money and often ended up unemployed in various recessions, esp if they were >40yo....

Am pleased to see that many engineers who devise useful products that change our lives are now well-rewarded....incents many smart, creative kids to pursue tech (and finance) for future innovations to occur in SV/NYC...

Seems like a much more useful, inspiring set of incentives than paying someone a billion to host a talk show or knock a ball into a hole...or whatever....

[Bagger]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

A couple weeks back, I posted the ten things I won;t moss when I move, which was a fun thread to watch. Now, here are the top ten things I will miss about Silicon Valley after I move:

1) Friends - We've had so many good ones here. They're sad for us to leave, and we're sad to leave them. But we hope to make new ones near our new home.

2) Our House - We had a nice little home here, but we had to rent the land for it and could not keep it long-term. We sure will miss that place, but we'll have a newer, better one where we're moving, which will make up for it.

3) Great Bay Area Attractions - Most notably: The city (SF), Monterey, Napa, Redwoods, Rocky Coastlines and, further afield, Yosemite, Tahoe, Big Sur and more.

4) Ethnic Food - We can probably search out some decent Mexican, and even Chinese restaurants in our new neighborhood, but it will be tough to find good spots for Indian, Japanese, Thai and so on.

5) Diversity - The various races, religions and nationalities add a unique blend of opinions and traditions to this area. I think the only place I've lived that was as diverse as here was the Washington DC area.

6) The Giants, or mostly just AT&T park - I just know Lincecum's gonna win Cy Young, they're gonna pick up some offense and they'll go all the way in '09 or '10. And, I'm gonna be like, 'dangit!' as I watch their games on the internet, wishing I could be sitting on the view level of the greatest ballpark in the world.

7) Jobs, jobs, jobs - There's a pretty good economy where we're moving to, but not like here. For anyone with some tech-industry experience, this place can't be beat for job security.

8) The Guadalupe River and Bay Trail - My solace, my reprieve, and my only escape from the hustle and bustle of the city.

9) Good Freeways - even thoguh there's a lot less traffic where I'm moving, there's also only one freeway, and it's gets jammed up at rush hour. My favorite freeway is, of course, 280, between Los Altos and SF. Simply beautiful, and seldom log-jammed.

10) An economy fueled by innovation, invention, and ingenuity, as opposed to natural resources, military or finance.

So why am I moving? Check my 'things I won't miss' post for details, but really it comes down to the fact that we have an opportunity to, and a change will do us good. Hopefully it goes well.

Great list.... love the parks here!