Considering moving to the Bay Area from DC Metro (San Diego: how much, tech job)

[vauser]

> Cross posting since my question relates to moving and living in the city of SF as well (//www.city-data.com/forum/san-j...-dc-metro.html).
> If this is considered bad practice, or if I should not have done it, my apologies (and happy to delete the post).

Early 40s, technology person (so finding something to do in the Bay Area wouldn’t be a problem).

Don’t need to worry about a good schooling district, just need a nice, little, safe place for wife and I.

How do the technology salaries compare between these areas and how much more should I make on the dollar to maintain the same standard of living (as in a DC suburb)? And is contracting work just as common in the valley as it is in the DC Metro?

I don’t like commuting (not one bit), and a primary purpose of the move it to live closer to (yet to be found) work, find it easy to switch jobs or contracts, continue to live closer to work and absorb the technological progress in the valley (miss the notion of start ups and exhilarating work in the DC Metro - not the easiest to find).

Would you recommend a relocation from the DC Metro to the Bay Area for someone like I at this point in my career? I’ve always wanted to live in the Silicon Valley but it just didn’t work out.

[likealady]

Originally Posted by vauser

How do the technology salaries compare between these areas and how much more should I make on the dollar to maintain the same standard of living (as in a DC suburb)? And is contracting work just as common in the valley as it is in the DC Metro?

I don’t like commuting (not one bit), and a primary purpose of the move it to live closer to (yet to be found) work, find it easy to switch jobs or contracts, continue to live closer to work and absorb the technological progress in the valley (miss the notion of start ups and exhilarating work in the DC Metro - not the easiest to find).

Would you recommend a relocation from the DC Metro to the Bay Area for someone like I at this point in my career? I’ve always wanted to live in the Silicon Valley but it just didn’t work out.

Do you want to live in San Francisco or Silicon Valley? They are two very different animals. Tech salaries depend on what your job is and what kind of company you work at. Larger companies might pay you more than a startup, so it's hard to say what the salary offer might be. Having worked at both larger companies and startups, I'll be the first to say startups are not all the media makes them out to be. My experience out here has mostly been a bunch of inexperienced twenty-somethings with zero concept of how to run a company and have a proper work-life balance. If they try to pull you in with stock options, those are typically worthless.

If your primary reason for moving is shorter commute, I think that's a poor reason to move. You will either pay top dollar or you will live in a more reasonably priced area and make a grueling commute. There's not really an in-between. Some of my friends live 20 miles from work and yet still spend an hour+ commuting (suburbs). Another example is if you worked in Downtown SF and lived nearby, you would probably be looking at $3200+ /month for a one bedroom unit in the vicinity. In the Valley the rents might be slightly cheaper but your commute will likely be much longer because Caltrain and BART don't have as many stops (car is rarely faster). Personally, I feel like Silicon Valley is just overpriced suburbs.

Contract work is common out here. However, in that case you might not always get work near home. Would you move closer to each new contract or deal with a longer commute? I am not willing to commute 1.5-2 hrs each way, thus options are limited.

If your main reason for moving cross-country is to shorten your commute, don't move. If you have other reasons such as career growth opportunities, a need for drastic change of scenery or lifestyle change, etc. those might warrant such a move.

[Novatoman]

Hi vauser,
Washington, DC is a great, clean city (please don't ever forget that while California,...hmmm, is 'adventurous'. Nice folks though.
In the Bay area you won't see much 'open' space areas like you do in DC but many of these areas feel very cozy (like Palo Alto, Los Altos, Denville, etc... for example) with great weather. Silicon Valley IS a good place to boost your career and meet the best but it comes at the HIGH cost of living expense (you will read all about it on City Data) and not so good transportation arrangements.

Moving from DC to SV may not be an economical move but if you don't have kids yet this might be a nice thing to 'try and see'. In SV you need to shoot for a near 150K salary/per person (if you can) to feel comfortable.

Please also consider South California as well (San Diego or Pasadena, CA or Ventura County cities (60 miles north of LA)

Good luck!

[jade408]

You probably need something along the lines of 1.5 to 1.75X to have similar quality of life in the Bay Area. Maybe even a bit more. Housing quality will be a lot crappier.

[VA All Day]

Don't move to the DC uuuuurea to avoid commuting, especially as a contractor. You will most likely immediately regret it.

[04kL4nD]

I wouldn't do it unless you'll get a big bump in pay. Bay Area traffic is actually worse than DC's.

[Dapper Zoom]

Originally Posted by vauser

a primary purpose of the move it to live closer to (yet to be found) work, find it easy to switch jobs or contracts, continue to live closer to work and absorb the technological progress in the valley (miss the notion of start ups and exhilarating work in the DC Metro - not the easiest to find).

Hmmmm....it might just be easier to go through the trouble of relocating or getting a new job in the DC area if your primary reason for considering a move is reducing the commute.

I am not sure what your area of tech is, but I consider the Bay area tech scene to have two primary areas; SF and the Valley. San Francisco has Salesforce, Twitter, AirBnB, Pinterest, a few others, and scores of startups. If you live and work in the city, your commute will probably be not bad, or can even be a short 15 minute walk or train ride. Silicon Valley includes San Jose and most of the towns on the peninsula from San Jose up to San Francisco. Google, Apple, Oracle, Facebook, and countless midsized tech companies and startups.

Working at the larger companies, you definitely get a higher effective salary, especially due to the perks and benefits. Most of them pay your phone and/or Internet service, include gym memberships and fitness reimbursements for golf, massage, skiing, etc. and include free lunches and happy hours. Pretty good work/life balance as well.

IMO, the only real advantages to startups are 1) More cutting edge tech, so a better place to develop skills and nerd-out, it can almost be like a more real-world version of grad school 2) the chance to "make it big" if the company does well, and 3) more of a "team" feeling with your coworkers. But you'll almost definitely get less money per-unit of effort (unless the company does really well) and not as much work/life balance.

Commuting wise, living and working in SF is much easier. There are some commutes in the peninsula that are not too bad, but it is much more variable. Some of the mid to large sized companies run comfortable commuter buses with WiFi to SF and other towns in the area, but you're still spending time commuting.

Overall, I guess I would not recommend it unless you are looking for a change of pace or wanting to move here for other reasons in addition, or if you are early enough in your career and want to gain experience with the latest cutting-edge technologies in the real world to boost your earning potential.

[evening sun]

Commutes & traffic in the Bay area are awful, that is a reason for many to move out. Like others have said, if you have other reasons, then go for it.

[samsara510]

As someone who has lived in both D.C. and the Bay Area, I would not recommend the move. D.C. is so much nicer in literally every way.

[04kL4nD]

Not in 'literally every way', no. I grew up in FFX County and you couldn't pay me to move back to the area.

The weather in DC is nothing to brag about, people are generally not as pleasant/nice, it's hyper competitive, traffic is horrendous, and also very, very expensive. It's funny, but the things I hate about DC are now the biggest gripes I have with the Bay Area.

If you've got a family though, DC makes a lot more sense. Housing is MUCH, MUCH better, along with excellent public schools. I'd also take a high paying gov't job over a high paying tech job, personally.

If you are single (or DINKS) and outdoorsy, the Bay Area is a much better place to live than DC, because it offers so much more to do outside. That is, of course, assuming you have the time to get out and enjoy it, which a lot of people don't.