[jsjenkins168]

After living in the SV area for a while, how would you now compare it to Austin? I'm considering the exact move soon myself. I love Austin, but dont think the atmosphere is as conducive for young hackers trying to start a business. Its a bit hard to stay motivated when people around you dont take what you are doing very seriously.

[SwellJoe]

The downtown Mountain View area feels like a much smaller, much less cool, version of the downtown Austin area...The houses were built around the same time as those found just past the river on South Congress, I think (though there are some Hyde Park/Travis Heights era houses around as well, the 50's and 60's is when Mountain View boomed and most houses in the downtown area were built). The restaurants and shops on Castro street are, as on Congress and 4th-6th streets in Austin, independently owned and of uniformly high quality. Not as quirky or as diverse, but perfectly acceptable, unless you want a decent dive bar or rock and roll club (of which Austin is the capital of the world), as neither is well-represented in Mountain View.

There is nothing like the river and Lake Travis, and the parks that surround it, in Mountain View proper...but one is compensated by being less than two hours from some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Big Sur is an easy weekend road trip away.

There is no music scene, of course, though San Francisco has a pretty good one and it's only 45 minutes away by car or train.

Mountain View is not nearly as dog-friendly as Austin, though I've been told it is more dog-friendly than most places in the region, and folks are shocked when I seem put out by the unfriendliness of the city to my dog. Finding a place to live if you have a dog (I mean a proper dog...one that gets into the jeep or the boat under its own power rather than being lifted or by riding around in a handbag) can be a challenge. Even if an apartment allows dogs, there's usually a 25-35 pound limit.

I was also disappointed to find that dogs are banned from downtown during any of the many street festivals. Not only does this make the festival less enjoyable (dogs are funny and a great ice breaker), it also means I can't have a proper walk with my dog on the weekends when they have the festivals. Folks don't often understand the meaning of "dog-friendly" until they've spent some time in Austin.

It's more expensive to live here--housing in modest areas is about 50% more expensive than the best areas of Austin. And there is no HEB or Central Market. Whole Foods has made it out, though, and there is an amazingly great little produce and cheese market called the Milk Pail.

Overall, I enjoy living here. I miss some things about Austin, and will probably retire there. But, living in the valley has been good for our business in dramatic ways.

[mattmaroon]

You really can't find a music scene like Austin's. They're perpetually in the top 3 by most people's standards.

I found SFs to be kinda lame, but then I'm not that into electronica. Guess it depends on your tastes.

What breed of dog?

[SwellJoe]

Agreed. But touring bands do make it to SF at almost the same clip as they made it to Austin...the local scene is significantly less interesting, however, as far as I can tell. But I might be missing something because I, also, mostly lack the electronica appreciation gene. I give SF the benefit of the doubt on the music issue since many people do seem to feel it has a good music scene. I will merely accept that it's not "my" music scene, and remain pining for Emo's.

And my dog is a rescue mutt of dubious heritage...probably quite a bit of English Pointer descent in her genes, though. Not huge, but too big to be acceptable to most apartment complexes in the entire bay area--but we found a nice little house near downtown, so it worked out well.

[mattmaroon]

SF has a fantastic comedy scene at least.

[tx]

Last time I've been to Silicon Valley it was 2003 and I hated it: the place had no soul compared to our beloved Austin. Then I got hired by a kick-ass Austin startup staffed by some ex-SV (and ex-Seattle) residents who acted like moving to Austin was the best move they ever did.

Fast forward to 08 and I have started to think about moving to SV again due to supposedly better "startup climate" and my recent trip to the startup school cured me again: no way in hell I'll ever live there, despite their 200+ VCs and "energy" that PS was writing about: that's not enough to compensate for the overall dullness. Silicon Valley simply isn't inspiring: one of the reasons I want to work for myself is because I despise the corporate environment (walls of cubicles). Guess what - the entire SV feels like a wall of cubicles, even when you're not at work.

[rms]

I am planning a move to the area but I have concluded that you need to live in SF. Even if you have to work in SV, this is one of the few parts of the country where it is really worth it to just suck it up and handle the commute.

[SwellJoe]

I could not possibly disagree more. I will never again commute more than ten minutes each way. An hour a day is over 6% of my waking life...and the SF to Palo Alto or Mountain View commute is over an hour each way during rush hour (and about 50 minutes any other time). So not worth it.

When I lived in Austin, I had a pretty long commute to the office and hated it. I treated the symptoms of the disease by buying a 350Z, which I figured I would love to drive. Guess what? After a few months I didn't even like driving the 350Z. If that aint a shame, I don't know what is. When I moved to the valley, I sold my Z. I don't have a car now. If I can't walk or ride my bike or catch a train or hitch a ride, I don't go. And it's proven to be a very nice year and a half.

Of course, in a startup, you can choose where you work, and if I didn't have other reasons for being in Mountain View I would choose to work in SF (my girlfriend also refuses to commute a long distance and she works at Google...a five minute commute from here).