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I should have added Major Metro, as I wouldn't consider Greater Bridgeport a major metro as it is less than 1million people, and it is connected more to the NYC CSA.
Exactly. That area is where all the NYC elite have houses (if they're not on Long Island).
Oh well, because I hate my job, I suppose I'll vote and post something anyway.
Importance - DC, because of the govt
Prestige - San Fran because of culture, uniqueness, etc.
Economy - Tie (I believe these are pretty close, but San Fran has more of what I do)
Lifestyle - San Fran
Entertainment - Tie
I'm going with SF here because I think that SF has a unique environment that DC does not have. DC has a lot more than politics, but politics certainly has it's signature written throughout the area. I like SF's unique culture and vibrancy, as well as its natural setting.
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,035,535 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmac9wr
Haha one of the problems was that the girls parked their rental car on a hill and got a ticket. She was saying she didn't want to pay the ticket and I had to explain that in order to avoid paying the $50 ticket, they would have to stay in Cali an extra few days and miss their flight back to Boston...they're from Brazil so I had to explain that you can't fight a ticket in Massachusetts if you received it in California haha.
I still think I'd like San Francisco...I was just very surprised they disliked it so much. Two things I've heard from them: 1. Alcatraz was cool. 2. Everyone they met was a druggie haha
Lol my experience there the very last time I was in San Francisco, I left my laptop in my cousins car, I put it under the seat. We were in a "supposedly good part of downtown" and got back later after lunch only to find the car broken into and a lot of things missing. Of which it included my laptop.
I have been to Bay Area so much, but now when I visit I don't even wear my watch in San Francisco anymore due to the paranoia of having it robbed. San Jose is relatively safe though.
Even despite that, I still very much like the Bay Area, one hell of an amazing part of our country. Definitely check it out one day, I already have a feeling you'll love it! IMO, San Francisco is kind of like a cross between Boston & Manhattan. I know people can/will disagree but it literally feels that the vibe is Boston's, and the setting inside downtown feels so much like Manhattan with hills.
I live in SF and like it much more however DC has a strong east coast economy not to mention its the US capitol... i do think that the cities are very close in economic value though... i give the edge to DC because of government
Certainly. The Federal Government is the world's biggest consumer. Right now, I am working on a federally-owned computer that uses Microsoft Word (Seattle) and Symantec's software (Sunnyvale, CA) to protect it. I use Adobe Acrobat (Silicon Valley) to read many of the documents sent to me on a daily basis. Cisco, Agilent, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems all contract with the Feds. My phone was actually made by Cisco. How many dollars would the Bay Area have lost if the Feds had decided to use a vendor not from the Bay?
Companies also receive research grants from the Feds. Federal money enabled most of Silicon Valley's companies to get off the ground.
Yeah I just looked up the GDP. Washington DC has a larger GDP, I thought it would have been the Bay Area. They aren't too far off from one another.
Washington DC does have a far lower unemployment rate, and has a more stable economy. Bay Area has a more diverse economy, but yeah you're right, the edge does go to Washington DC. Thought I should clarify on that before I was suspected of bashing Washington DC or something like that.
My bad on that, I was wrong about the economy since I didn't look up the CSA GMP's before or got them mixed up since it's been a while. I would still like to work in the Bay Area though but that is just off preference. San Jose > Washington DC & San Francisco, IMO.
Remove federal money, I don't think SV would be shaken. Tech sector is far to diverse and has never been dependent on government handouts.
I can't think of one industry that would not be shaken absent federal dollars, including the tech sector.
Bay Area companies munch off of federal spending like everyone else. If not, you wouldn't have tech companies lobbying on Capitol Hill in attempt to procure federal grants for state and local governments, so that they in turn can purchase their software.
Congress to Big Biz: Lobby more, or else | Washington Examiner (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/congress-to-big-biz-lobby-more-or-else-96302464.html - broken link)
And you really think that Silicon Valley would be alright without federal money? Yeah right. California's industries are no exception.
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