As someone who's lived in the Bay for a while now, we always hear these rumors that the next Silicon Valley is going to be Austin, or Santa Monica, or more recently Miami and so on.<p>I've had friends of friends move to Austin and from what I've heard its apparently life changing and all they ever wanted etc.<p>So for those who live in up and comer tech cities like the above or any other that I've missed, what is the experience like?<p>How does it compare to SF/SJ/Oakland/anything in between?<p>How is tech valued there?<p>How competitive is the job market?<p>How do the different rules, regulations, markets benefit / hinder tech in your city?
Next month I will have been in Austin for 13 years. I was moved here by IBM. I was working at one of their sites in Dallas and my team was relocated to Austin. I nearly didn't relocate, because I thought it would be too hard to find another job in Austin.<p>That turned out to be wrong. I've found there are lots of job opportunities here. Seems like there are more every day.<p>Down side is that out infrastructure is built to handle all this growth. So traffic is going from bad to worse. Real estate is appreciating like crazy. I like in suburbs, and my house has increased in value by 50% in 6 years. So that is making the city unaffordable. Another downside is my property taxes go up every year.<p>I've never live in Bay Area, but about 7 years ago I did some work for a company based in San Francisco. So I traveled out there a fair bit. Austin feel more corporate that SF. Companies move here once they are established and are looking to lower operating costs. SF felt to have a better startup and innovation culture.<p>Texas doesn't have the worker protections that California has. Mainly the prohibition of non-competes. Until we get that Austin will not be a replacement for Silicon Valley.
I have lived throughout SF Bay Area, and in Santa Monica/West LA.<p>There's nothing that approaches the Bay Area in terms of tech. Everything else is a gnat on the elephant.<p>Throughout the entire SF Bay Area, there is tech everywhere, in every shape and form. Santa Monica/Los Angeles is just nothing compared to the Bay Area, it's not even a shadow of a shadow of comparison.<p>However, I 1000% prefer Santa Monica, the beaches are fantastic, the weather is better.
It's sort of an in-between lifestyle.<p>Great opportunities and great quality of life, but high cost of living, and prohibitively so if you're looking to own property. Money moves faster than people or construction.