Hi everyone,<p>I'm coming to a turning point in my life. I'll be graduating from university soon, and I'm looking forward to moving to a more hacker friendly city with brighter prospects. My question to the community here is... if you were in my position, which city would you choose?<p>Some background information:
I'm a bit of a laggard in graduating, being that I'm 25. I spent two years abroad in Japan, and upon entering university, switched majors more than once. However, my time has been well spent, working on various software projects.<p>I live near Boulder right now, but I'm originally from Detroit. While the Boulder/Denver area is certainly in a better position than Detroit in terms of tech related jobs, I feel that there are better cities out there.<p>Here are some cities and locations I'm considering:<p>* Chicago<p>* New York<p>* SF Bay Area<p>* Seattle<p>* Boston<p>* Houston/Austin<p>From a lifestyle and interests standpoint, any of these cities are acceptable. However, my gut tells me that the SF Bay Area is where I should really be. Some of my tech proficiencies are a bit esoteric (read: Erlang). So I think that given the large concentration of tech related companies in the SF area, the probability of me finding a suitable job there would be greater than that in a different city. I could be totally wrong though.<p>What do you think?<p>Thanks for the help.
<a href="http://paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html" rel="nofollow">http://paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html</a><p>Yes, I think the SF Bay Area is the credited response here.
I'm from Chicago (and still consider it home), but without question, California is the place to be. I moved west 10 years ago and it's been a fun ride.
if everything else is equal, SF bay area. if you have other considerations that do have sway beyond brazen careerism, then that might change things. or it might not.
I've lived and worked at startups in both NYC and SF. It isn't even a contest. The amount of startup activity, the character of the companies (ie are the founders left in charge or do you have to have a Harvard MBA to pass muster with the VCs), the ecosystem surrounding the companies, cheaper housing, the ability to move between companies (you mostly can't enforce non-competes in CA) -- come to SF. Oh, and the weather.<p>Paul Graham will give you the same answer in a much more detailed form -- go read it.