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I am living abroad, moving for the 1st time to the US and I have two job offers:
1. Las Vegas - 70k
2. San Francisco (mountain view) - 78k
and I am trying to decide which is the better option.
The role (database developer) is pretty much identical with both companies, except the SF one pays a little more.
Because of this my decision comes down to where is a better place to live, if we go for SF we would like to live a close as possible to the city as mountain view seems a little quiet from my one time visit observation.
We live fairly modest lives, both have cars, like to go out to eat once a week, once a week to the movies etc...
Just wondering if anyone else out there has any experience of living in both cities or has any thoughts / suggestions on this?
Cost of living is significantly higher in SF. Also, NV has no state income tax so that extra money you're being paid in SF is really a tie at best. It comes down to how you want to spend your free time, plans for family life, etc. Do some research on the areas via all the normal outlets; city data, travel, cost of living, hell just take a look at google earth and see what appeals to you more.
I love this town, absolutely love it, but it'd be a tough call for me if I had to choose between them. I really would love to live in a true walking city and some pro sports, but these are my prefs, not necessarily yours.
I would definitely chose Las Vegas. I used a cost of living calculator below, and you would need to make $111,000 in San Fransisco to equal $70,000 in Las Vegas.
If money is the primary concern, LV wins hands-down. SF is VERY expensive - one of the highest cost cities in the country to live in.
If money is secondary, you have to weigh everything. I'm guessing that you're coming from Ireland - the geography of LV will be very alien to you. Despite the city that's been built here, it's still very much a desert, in every way. The summers are extreme - something that should be seriously considered. SF has much nicer weather, and much greener scenery. There's probably a more active social scene in SF, although LV does have a lot of world class entertainment.
I found the weather of SF generally awful. I don't much care for the coastal plane of So. California so I find SF generally awful. There are some micro climates that are almost livable but you have to know your way around.
Note that the commute to Mountain View is not negligible. It is pretty unusal to live in SF and work in MV. Mostly you would find a place on the penisula or even across the bay for cost reasons. It is a reverse commute which is nice.
The cost of living is not close. $78K is survival level in SF. Can be done but I doubt you eat out every week unless at a Taco stand. You can live reasonably well on $70K in LV. Buy a house if you like...which will not be possible in SF.
For living comfortably you will be much better off in LV. If however the aura of SF has gotten to you...go for it. It is a "different" place.
I found the weather of SF generally awful. I don't much care for the coastal plane of So. California so I find SF generally awful. There are some micro climates that are almost livable but you have to know your way around.
Note that the commute to Mountain View is not negligible. It is pretty unusal to live in SF and work in MV. Mostly you would find a place on the penisula or even across the bay for cost reasons. It is a reverse commute which is nice.
The cost of living is not close. $78K is survival level in SF. Can be done but I doubt you eat out every week unless at a Taco stand. You can live reasonably well on $70K in LV. Buy a house if you like...which will not be possible in SF.
For living comfortably you will be much better off in LV. If however the aura of SF has gotten to you...go for it. It is a "different" place.
If your going to work in Mt. View, I would suggest living as close as possible since commuting sucks. BTW, Mt. View has very nice weather.
SF and the coast has a humid, foggy and very cool yearly weather. However, if you live in the inland valleys like San Jose or even Eastern Contra Costa county, you will find the weather pretty nice. I grew up in San Jose and I though the weather was almost perfect. 50-60's at night and 70s to mid 80's durring the day in the summer. It also rains maybe less than 20 inches a year.
Thanks for the advice, its really interesting to read your opinions and thoughts on this - esp as you are "on the ground" so to speak.
I've been to Vegas twice and SF once - in summer, to me Vegas seemed more laid back, easy going while SF had a much faster pace of life...but that was through the eyes of a tourist.
Thanks for the advice, its really interesting to read your opinions and thoughts on this - esp as you are "on the ground" so to speak.
I've been to Vegas twice and SF once - in summer, to me Vegas seemed more laid back, easy going while SF had a much faster pace of life...but that was through the eyes of a tourist.
I bet if you put this poll on the SF board it would be 6-0 in favor of SF. They have a lot of pride over there and they will tell you that Las Vegas is a terrible place because of weather, education and culture. Its all about what your looking for. If your a laid back person and want more comfortable living, I think Las Vegas is the best choice.
Yeah and I would second AA702s views on the climate. I spent most of my time there on the penisula and I think that climate vastly superior to SF. So climate wise MV over SF or even LV.
But the cost of living is still vastly favorable to LV...and MV is simply another suburban town. No great shakes and always 15 miles to wherever you need to be.
And if you get the Peninsula people they too will tell you that you got to be crazy to go to SF. Watch...
Cost of living calculators comparing the Bay Area to Las Vegas will always leave the user holding the short end of the stick if they choose the Bay Area.
Last edited by Tanque Verde; 09-20-2009 at 02:23 PM..
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