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Where Should I Live Next? Input/Advice Requested
As many of you know, I currently live in NYC. My apartment lease is coming to an end this September and I am considering moving to another city in the U.S. Here are my requirements:
- Must be less expensive than NYC
- Must have a tech scene
- Must have a good airport – meaning multiple carrier choices
I have considered moving back to Atlanta where I lived for nearly a decade. Atlanta meets my requirements for 1 and 2 but not 3 as the only airline choice is basically Delta.
I am currently considering the following cities:
- Austin, Texas
- Portland, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Boulder, Colorado
I would absolutely love some input on the cities I’ve listed above and/or other suggestions for places to move to.
It’s important that I move to a city where I can get the word out about my startup along with the ability to fly whenever needed to conferences and events.
Interestingly this afternoon I had a discussion with Mashable writer Josh Catone about my potential move. Josh is also considering moving later this year and has a very similar post looking for advice.
At this point I am planning to visit Austin from August 7-12th and would like to meet some local startups and entrepreneurs. Drop me a line if are interested in meeting.
what about the valley – near or in san fran?
sadly the valley is as expensive or more expensive than nyc.
Glen, it is expensive there.
And Allen, would love to help you out. But I am stuck in MN and i’ve been to none of those places lol.
I’ve got some friends that live out near Boulder and they say they love it there. I never really cared much for Texas but then again I’ve never been to Austin. Portland and Seatlle aren’t bad from what I’ve seen but I don’t know that I’d want to live in either.
We’d love to see you out here in Portland. ;)
Allen,
Seattle would love to have you and your great ideas. We have a ton of exciting tech coming out of a few different places (not just 2.0 startups either) as well as a rocking social media/networking scene (disclosure: I’m on the board of SMC Seattle).
I think less expensive than NYC is a given and SeaTac is great, especially with @AlaskaAir flying all over.
I came out there back in June and loved the very brief stay – was super hot (they say it wasn’t normal) but the area I stayed in was nice. It seems like Seattle is a pinch less expensive than NYC but not by much.
I hope to come out there to investigate further as the weather is probably the best out of the selected cities so far.
Why haven’t you added Los Angeles to your list? It has a bigger tech scene than any of those cities, big airport, close to the Valley, and while real estate isn’t cheap, you can find good value here.
hmm – haven’t really thought about LA – I would be close to that percival fellow :)
is living less expensive than sf/nyc?
Depends on the neighborhood.
I think you’ll find decent prices and a young crowd in Bentwood. Plus it’s not far from Santa Monica, where the action (mostly) is.
I also recommend Venice Beach. You can find especially good deals there if you go East of Lincoln Blvd (which is about 7 blocks from the beach).
Frankly, if you live in the valley, you’ll be closer to the tech action that most of the cities you listed above.
And yes, Percival is here. Another perk.
Just what lalawag needs, more competition! :P
Allen you are always welcome in lalaland, but you’ll probably want to get a car!
I want your Audi! aren’t you getting a tesla?
Would love to see you in Boulder! Let me know if you want the tour!
Austin is a great town (though a totally different lifestyle than big cities) and an inexpensive place to live. One drawback is that many flights go through DFW and if you travel alot that can be a pain. If you are looking to meet some startups and entrepenuers I suggest you contact Austin Ventures. They fund a lot of interesting tech companies.
Interesting – when I look at flights, jetblue goes direct to orlando, nyc and sf. southwest has directs to la, las vegas, etc. frontier to a variety too. i will look more though
the big drawback for me is the heat
Boulder! Boulder! It’s wonderful.
Austin’s nice, but so hot.
Did you try asking Hunch?
http://www.hunch.com/
Although I’m not familiar with every option on your list, I found Seattle impressive. A little cold for my liking, but great tech/ startup community, nice environment, and although I never looked at house prices, the general cost of things there seemed to be cheaper than SF or NY.
i do love the weather in seattle – i think its relatively cool there and i like cold… that’s the one problem with austin
Allen –
Seattle – You like the cold, but how about the wet? One of my sisters lived in Seattle with two small boys and almost went nuts with all the rain. But if that doesn’t bother you, it’s a great city with great nearby places to visit if like the outdoors.
Portland- is a great town if you love the outdoors (I recall flyfishing with 5 inch long salamanders swimming around on a mountain top lake within an hour of downtown Portland – didn’t catch anything but that’s me).
Boulder – Seems to have a strong tech scene (2nd largest tech meetup). People I’m working with seem to love it there. Some are San Fran or NYC transplants. I’m planning to add team members there to take over management of my site as I take a backseat.
Austin – If don’t like hot, then probably not a good choice for you.
Philly- Close to NYC so an easy move.
Good luck.
yea to be honest im not a huge outdoors guy – that’s why i think boulder might be out. i am more of a city guy
boulder might have the 3rd tech meetup – i cant imagine they are bigger than sf or ny
thanks john – you should drop me a line about MW too!
I would say Boulder or Portland – and Los Angeles might be an option also as noted above. Much much more affordable than SF/Valley area!
Allen, definitely check out Raleigh/Durham, NC . Amazing entrepreneurial atmosphere and resources for startups and early stage companies, three major universities (Duke, UNC, and NC State), international airport (RDU), great weather, and it’s a couple of hours from both the mountains and the ocean. Hope this helps!
http://marktrapp.com/ and http://willnorris.com/ are among those recently moved to Portland, you might ask them what they think. Linus Torvalds, James Duncan Davidson, Ward Cunningham, Rael Dornfest and lots of other hackers like the city. I grew up here and wouldn’t go elsewhere.
Go Boulder, Allen! It’s where I would be if I could.
Duh.
Asheville, NC.
Greatest/techiest/beer-iest little city in the world.
I vote Portland. Boulder would piss you off.
I’m going to add my vote in here for Boulder Allen. Would love to add to our already star studded cast in Colorado. Would love to make you a part of the Silicon Mountain crowd.
As an Oregon Native, I’ve gotta throw my two cents in for the PNW–Portland or Seattle.
Then again, it’s supposed to be 105 degrees in Seattle tomorrow. But normally it’s nice, cold and rainy.
Portland has got to end up near or at the top of the list. Cheaper than all of the above. It’s a brief plane ride to most of the important places; almost certainly a direct flight to anywhere farther to which you need to go. (Our airport is consistently rated EXTREMELY highly.)
Very hip crowd of super-smart people and the bay area companies are consistently opening more offices here because of the lifestyle and proximity to the bay area. I’d venture a much stronger tie exists between PDX and the bay than LA or Seattle can claim. I’m a headhunter for startups, so I’d know. :)
Lots of interesting districts in which to live, and I live in the hills in what is really hick-ville, but I’m 40 minutes from downtown Portland (30 minutes on the weekend). I can live like a country-boy, but be in downtown for any type of event in a heartbeat. (I actually own 2 tractors and 15 farm animals on 5 acres.)
Seattle is more spendy AND they get less rain, but over MORE days per year. And if you get negative feedback about the rain in PDX, we actually get 4 seasons here.
If you are an outdoors person, you’ll be hard-pressed to beat the area. Hiking, camping, fishing, boating, windsailing, hiking in the summer; snow-sports in the winter. Wonderful golf courses!
Wine country is 1 hour from me (south of Portland), Mt. Hood 2 hours away from me, and the Oregon/Washington coast 2 hours away. And it’s coast territory where you actually want to live.
The secret, though, to living in Portland? Check out downtown Vancouver. On the Washington side you’ll avoid state income tax (there is none) and you’re 10 minutes from downtown Portland and with even cheaper everyday living expenses.
IF you still like Seattle, check out Sequim, Washington on the Olympic peninsula. You can’t drive to Seattle from there, it’s a rural area, but you can drive not far to the ferries into Seattle. Sequim is in the shadow of the Olympic rainforest, which means they only get 12 inches of rainfall a year … like living in California, but a little skip away from Seattle. It’s right on the Puget Sound, so you’d get that coast life you may want.
I’d look at Boulder, Austin as well, but you might look into Pittsburgh.
I know, I know, but seriously, the airport gets you decent connections to most US cities (though it’s no longer US Air’s hub). There’s a decent amount of tech and medical startup activity through CMU, Pitt and UPMC. Costs are much cheaper than NYC.
The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is comparable to Brooklyn Heights.
Chat up Tim Marman (who just started nextBurgh ala nextNY) or (I think) Sean Ammiratti.
thanks epc – i talked to sean a few months ago about pitts – frankly i can’t remember the discussion.
tim marman moved? wow i had no idea – goes to skype to msg him.
I don’t know that Tim moved, just that he’s involved with nextBurgh.
I know we already chatted about this, but +1 for Boulder
I’m a bit biased but I highly recommend you try out Philadelphia. We have some great startups all over the place (from tech to food) and one of the best coworking spaces around. There’s a great vibe of comradery here in Philly and it’s not too big that you get lost in the crowd. I know you know people down here but if you want to chat at any point or come down to see some of the sights, let me know.
I really hear lots of awesome things about Boulder, Colorado from friends and colleagues
[...] http://www.centernetworks.com/where-should-i-live-next [...]
come to Los Angeles!!!
Thanks Jason – only if i get a ride in your tesla! i saw your open spaces too :)
Consider Hillsboro County, New Hampshire. That could be Nashua, Merrimac, Amherst, etc.
It’s a lower cost of living area than Boston, but within reach of that city and also within reach of the Route 128 area for hi-tech. Also, Nashua itself has hi-tech busniesses.
I lived there back in the late sixties and my sister lives there today.
Good luck with whatever choice you make!
as Brian said, I recently moved to Portland from San Francisco, and I’m loving it here. The scenery is so much more beautiful than the bay area, and the cost of living is significantly less (I’m renting a 2500 sq ft house for 40% less than a 1500 sq ft apartment in SOMA).
I absolutely love the tech community in Portland… much more laid back and inviting than SFO, and seems to be more supportive of local startups. Now, there aren’t near the number of VCs in PDX than the bay area, but likely more than you’d find in many of the other cities you’re looking at.
It’s hot as hell right now, and we’re setting heat records left and right, but I’m assured that this is atypical for the area, and will be getting better soon. I sure hope so. Overall, I’m very happy with my decision to move to Portland, and can definitely recommend it to others working in technology.
[...] Stern of CenterNetworks posed a question from a different perspective, where should I live next? He limits his options to Austin, Portland, Seattle, Philadelphia and Boulder. He even lists some [...]
Come join us in Portland! If you schedule a trip out here, I’ll organize a welcoming party and we’ll give you our best sales pitch!
As someone said before me, the PDX airport is one of the best….err, THE best in the country. Its a quick flight to the Bay, you can leave in the morning and be back home in Portland for dinner. Multiple VC’s have opened Portland offices this year alone and more are set to join. Seattle is a short 2.5 hour drive north or a 30 minute flight.
Yes we have a high state income tax but housing is affordable, you wont burn gas sitting in traffic or driving around a large metro area like L.A. and the restaurants are great but inexpensive.
The Oregon Coast, about an hour from Portland. Mt Hood, about an hour from Portland. The Columbia Gorge, about an hour from Portland. Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, about an hour from Portland. The Oregon Wine Country, home to the best Pinot Noir’s, less than an hour from Portland.
Portland’s got it all. Come check it out.
Forgot a few things!
- Best beer in the US (we are the Microbrew capital of the world).
- Best coffee in the US (becoming the Micro-Roasting capital of the world).
- Verizon FiOS internet service is available here (damn its fast!).
- Clear WiMax is available here.
I lived in SF for more than 10 years until moving to Austin last year. Cost of living, and especially housing, is cheaper in Austin. There’s a big tech community but it is hot (though so is NY and LA in the summer).
My sister lives in Boulder and it’s great if you don’t mind the cold weather and driving at least an hour each way to Denver’s airport (the part of visiting I don’t like).
I’d rather have the heat than the cold of Boulder or the rain of the Pacific Northwest.
And you are picking the US why? How about …..
* Sydney AU
* Brisbane AU
* Auckland NZ
* London EN
I’d pick either Seattle or Boulder as those two really seem to fit well with my vision for living in the USA :D
[...] last month I posted that I am considering leaving NYC and might move to one of a bunch of different cities. Within minutes of the post going live, I had a number of [...]
[...] tried to persuade Allen to move back to Atlanta at SXSW, but when I saw his recent “Where Should I Live Next” post, I knew I hadn’t been convincing enough. Time to try again. Though it’s a [...]