[argyleaf]

Totally hear you.

I'm living in a small college-town-adjacent city in rural New England and though I occasionally have pangs of desire for the SV life of some college friends, working for an established company that is not a historic software powerhouse makes stress super manageable, makes me a big fish in a small pond, gives me time to hack on side projects, and opportunity to perfect my hobbies (wood-fired pottery, cooking, and yoga). I took what feels like a big pay cut but cost of living compared to BOS, SV, SEA, or NYC at least zeros that out.

Of course there are problems where adopting technologies/best-practices, hiring a team, or speed of development is like pushing molasses up a sand dune, but leaving that at the door at the end of the day is worth it to me.

Will that balance change? Who knows. The future is hard to predict, but right now it makes a lot of sense to me.