[look_lookatme]

> Seriously the drug use is pretty Rampant in Denver too. Not a turn off to all, but given the places I did work, you wouldn't expect it. Texas is so much better.

What does this mean? If you mean cannabis use, who cares? It's legal and it's harmless. If you are talking about opioid abuse or something else, that's a different story.

It sounds like you had some subjectively bad individual experiences because you mixed with people that you are not socially compatible with, but there's nothing here (brogrammers that don't share your hobbies? weed smokers?) that seems like an indictment of the entire city of Denver. Similarly, while your new job is great and you have found your tribe in Austin, your nerdy coworkers are but a very small part of the selfhood of ATX.

[u801e]

> If you mean cannabis use, who cares? It's legal and it's harmless. If you are talking about opioid abuse or something else, that's a different story.

Whether or not people use drugs or alcohol when they're not working shouldn't be relevant. If it leads to impairment in the workplace such that they cannot perform their job, then it becomes a problem.

[rdiddly]

Well there's one more way it can matter, and make your experience suck: When the downstairs neighbors smoke out at all hours, and it comes up through your floor and in through your windows, and the whole place smells like Tom Petty & Willie Nelson were hanging out. Not even during work hours. Or worse, during your remote-working hours that don't happen to correspond to the neighbors' working hours.

Almost sounds like I have personal experience doesn't it?

[Apocryphon]

That's not too different from the Bay Area, or at least the trendy neighborhoods in SF and in Oakland where the tech people live

[starwind0]

Feel free to move to Denver :-) Just remember you were warned. I only lived there about 25 years. Trust me I am not talking just coworkers. People in Texas are in general more friendly. You will notice these things if you move around like I have.

[JPKab]

I live in Colorado.

I've lived all over as well. The Denver metro is about as friendly as Austin metro in my opinion. Texas as a whole is friendly because it's the south, but that pertains to non urban areas.

I do find people in the West to be poorly mannered but not unfriendly. Frankly, growing up in the South, people in other places have bad manners in general to me.

I think it's important to know that companies have different cultures, and your experience of Austin or Denver can be heavily affected by that.

[scottlegrand2]

I heart Austin. Happiest place I've ever lived as a techie. Hope to return.

[starwind0]

Why you leave?!

[scottlegrand2]

Wife hates Texas.

[CyberDildonics]

Warned about what? You didn't answer his questions or explain what you meant.

[starwind0]

Yeah I'm not getting into that debate on an internet forum.

[vin7]

Where in Texas are you talking about? It's a huge state.

[souprock]

It is not legal. Federal law has not changed. The fact that enforcement in Colorado is minimal does not make usage legal.

The federal government sure does care. You won't be getting a security clearance if you are a user. This cuts you off from over a million jobs.

It's not harmless either, particularly if you breath it. Even non-drug stuff like Lysol and candle smoke will mess up your lungs. The drug aspect is real too; we don't have the term "pothead" for no reason.

[NotSammyHagar]

You don't need a security clearance. It wasn't a crime to smoke pot in 1900, and pot itself does not one any damage. And I've never smoked pot! I do live in a state that has decriminalized it. In a few years it won't matter across the whole country. We'll still have things you puritan can use to look down at people, so don't fret. Mushroom (I've also never taken these either, person!) aren't becoming legal soon. Although they again cause no one any real trouble.

[JPKab]

I held a top secret clearance for 8 years, and worked in the DC area.

Those jobs suck, and your attitude does as well. You sound like a stuck up prude.