[maerF0x0]

> Thankfully, I escaped with only scrapes and bruises, but that was really upsetting for me, and I felt that it was only a matter of time before something worse happened.

Lately, with my observation that much of American life is getting much much worse. I often think about leaving America entirely, attempting to hold my breath a little longer to get what America most has to offer these days -- superior compensation/salary.

That being said I also have had a very minimal slice of living in America, for all I know there is some amazing pocket somewhere that I can have it all. But I have yet to find it in California or Texas.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

If you don't need diversity, year-round hot weather, and sky-rocking housing prices - there's tons of nice affordable places near The Great Lakes.

Also, Philadelphia has some quite nice areas that are pretty affordable. And it's an easy train ride away from NYC.

[seanmcdirmid]

The great lakes region doesn't have a great tech scene. Maybe Chicago, but otherwise you would be eeking out opportunities in college towns.

You might have better luck in SLC or Denver.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

Google, Amazon, & Microsoft are all in Detroit. I'm pretty sure Facebook is, too. Plus it has a decent startup ecosystem.

IBM has tons of jobs in upstate NY - offices in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse (not exactly a dream employer).

And remote jobs are always an option...

The nice parts of Denver are quite expensive. Detroit has much more to offer in terms of jobs than SLC.

[seanmcdirmid]

SLC has a strong startup ecosystem, and around Provo these days also; it also gives you easy access to outdoor activity if you are into hiking and skiing (typical of west coast and mountain towns). The density of tech jobs is surely higher than Detroit, if not absolute numbers. Detroit has presences but they all seem to be tiny (~100 people each?), is it really considered a hot place for tech these days?

[maerF0x0]

I will say, without knowing the ins/outs of it, that bellevue looked appealing for the variety of roles I could hold and live there.

[dbrueck]

> for all I know there is some amazing pocket somewhere that I can have it all

IME there is a pretty large middle band between the extremes of urban and the boondocks where you can come really close to having it all. It's easiest to find if instead of shooting for "all" you make the concession of having to own and use a car a lot - it's an unfortunate tradeoff, but once you accept it, it becomes relatively easy to find places that check the other boxes: decent cost of living, lots of culture/arts opportunities, great food, lots of outdoor activities, good weather, good schools, good safety, good job market, real feeling of community, etc.

The following won't guarantee success and isn't the only method, but it yields lots of good results: take a list of the 50 largest U.S. cities. Cross off the top 15. Cross off any in FL or CA. Randomly pick a remaining city. On a map, find neighboring cities/towns that are 35-45 miles away from that city. For each that looks interesting, go look at their city website. How big is their public library? How many parks do they have? Do they have any sort of annual city history celebration or other big community event? What community service organizations seem most active? (the idea here is to eliminate any that are a soulless suburban sprawl) If you're able, go visit one and even get an airbnb for a couple of weeks and just live there to try it out.

[atyppo]

Germany's new citizenship law looks extremely compelling. Moreover, they have a relatively easy visa system to navigate with straightforward immigration rules. There's a very useful subreddit with a very dedicated moderator. [1]

[1]: reddit.com/r/germancitizenship

[fumar]

Thinking of Singapore?

[maerF0x0]

I'd be open to it if it weren't for an aging parent. I've only heard amazing things from Singapore :)

[prottog]

I've lived in a few different countries and settled in the US. You're right about the pay in America, and it's at a scale beyond what most people (whether inside or outside of America) realize; take for example the state of Mississippi, who many Americans deride as being a "literal third world country", which actually turns out to have a comparable median disposable household income to an economic powerhouse like Germany.

> much of American life is getting much much worse

This sentiment is real and shared by many people, but keep in mind that many of the things that may be getting worse off in this country are becoming even worse in other countries. In fact, the easiest way to feel better about life here may be just to stop reading the news, in the same way that you're not plugged into the news cycle of, say, Denmark.

There's a lot to see in California and Texas outside of whichever cities you may have lived in, and a lot more to see in the rest of the US outside of those states. I invite you to explore more of it before writing it off.