[dehrmann]

I keep waiting for someone to realize Bay Area rents have gone up 100%-200% since 2008, but the max unemployment in CA is still $450 per week. I was laid off in 2009, and between that and severance, I could manage. It's going to be a lot harder in the next recession.

[echelon]

You realize jobs are abundant and rents are affordable outside the Bay Area?

My mortgage on a huge historic cotton mill loft with brick walls, 23'' ceilings, and city views in Atlanta is less than your rent.

You could consider getting out.

[scarmig]

Suppose you rent a one bedroom for 4k in SF. You can do better than this, but let's go with it. And suppose your mortgage is 2k, and you make a solid salary of 200k in Atlanta.

It seems like a no brainer to move. But you're ignoring the fact that someone of equivalent experience could get a paycheck of 500k here.

That pay differential swamps trying to optimize by tightening the budget.

[echelon]

My total comp (salary plus RSUs) is 400k, and my (now fully vested and liquid) stock options are worth 2.5M. I realize not everyone can replicate that, but I did this in Atlanta, not SF.

I also can drive 7 minutes to work or run 30 minutes on the Beltline and shower when I get in.

There are more trees here than SF, and we have full seasons. It's also way more diverse. Not everyone is in tech. The dating scene is great.

SF isn't all it's made out to be.

[TulliusCicero]

SF is pretty much exactly what it's made out to be. The odds of getting a high paying job in tech are vastly higher in the bay area than in Atlanta, and SF is much friendlier to non-car methods of transportations. That said, yeah it's expensive as all hell.

> The dating scene is great.

Yeah, assuming you're a dude, the gender balance in Atlanta is probably much better, plus you're making excellent money in an area with much fewer people making bank; in SF, making 250k isn't even really that unusual, that's a mid-level dev position at Google, not even senior.

Re:diversity, I find there's this thing in the states where people count the percentage of black and Hispanic people as highly relevant to diversity, but Chinese and Indian people don't count, hence all the articles about how big tech companies are "mostly just white guys". Because the bay area really isn't very white, compared to the US as a whole.

[asveikau]

Hello friend. I would advise against making these numbers so public and traceable to your name.

[aperiodic]

I've actually been thinking of moving to Atlanta recently. I live in Portland OR right now, so the sprawl of Atlanta scares me, but I've heard there are good walkable pockets of it.

I walk my dog 2 hours a day; are there places where the sidewalk density is high enough and the busy road density low enough that I could do that and have some route optionality so I'm not just doing the same walk all the time?

[echelon]

Sorry for the late reply.

The Beltline plus Piedmont Park is a perfect fit. The Beltline is linear, but long (it circles the city), and all of the connected neighborhoods are extremely walkable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeltLine

Piedmont Park and Ansley are beautiful.

The Beltline will eventually connect to the Silver Comet trail, which is a completely paved bike path that extends all the way to Alabama.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Comet_Trail

If you're willing to get in the car, the Palisades, Kennesaw Mountain, and more are not far. They're extremely dog friendly, and I visit them often.

https://www.atlantatrails.com/hiking-trails/hiking-east-pali...

Also, Fetch Dog Park is freaking amazing. It's a dog park with alcohol. It blew up, and now they're opening four more locations in two other states.

https://atlantapetlife.com/fetch-dog-park/

You shouldn't have any problem.

[dehrmann]

My point wasn't that CA rent is expensive, just that benefits need to keep up with cost of living, and I'm ~fine with paying for in taxes for it.

I'm fully aware that I pay the "California Tax" to live somewhere with good weather, outstanding universities, and to work with some of the smartest people in my industry. But that's what I value right now. Different people are looking for different things.

[ethbro]

By tracks, by any chance? Doesn't narrow it down much in Atlanta (specifically with mills), but if you're talking where I think you're talking, I'm ~2 mi from you. ;)

[echelon]

Nailed it!

[ethbro]

:) There aren't as many places with ceilings that high. Cool space!

Fingers crossed Atlanta makes good moves on the housing / transportation front in the next 20-30 years.

This part (and the city as a whole) feels like it could go either way.