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Duolingo To Silicon Valley Workers: Move To Pittsburgh, Where You Can Actually Afford a Home (venturebeat.com)
As the cost of living continues to rise in Silicon Valley, tech companies in other parts of the country are getting more aggressive in pitching workers to move to their cities for a better quality of life. From a report: This week, the language-learning platform Duolingo put up an ad along San Francisco's US Highway 101, encouraging residents to move to Pittsburgh where the company's headquarters are based. In Pittsburgh, you can both "work in tech" and "own a home," the ad touted. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn told VentureBeat in an email that the company was prompted to put up the ad after realizing that most of its Pittsburgh employees who relocated to the city cited the low cost of housing as one of the deciding factors.
Von Ahn said that 85 percent of the company's Pittsburgh-based employees moved to the city from somewhere else. The company has 110 employees, the majority of whom work out of Pittsburgh. "One [employee] who recently joined Duolingo moved from the Bay Area and ended up buying a house almost immediately," von Ahn said. "He said he never would have been able to do that before, but here in Pittsburgh, he found a reasonably priced home on a large plot of land and jumped on the opportunity to be a homeowner and have a huge yard for his dog."
Von Ahn said that 85 percent of the company's Pittsburgh-based employees moved to the city from somewhere else. The company has 110 employees, the majority of whom work out of Pittsburgh. "One [employee] who recently joined Duolingo moved from the Bay Area and ended up buying a house almost immediately," von Ahn said. "He said he never would have been able to do that before, but here in Pittsburgh, he found a reasonably priced home on a large plot of land and jumped on the opportunity to be a homeowner and have a huge yard for his dog."
In my old city there were tons of posts for jobs. It turns out it was the same 3 recruiters posting the same jobs over and over again. There were actually very, very few tech jobs. Meanwhile I left behind several friends who bought houses and got stuck in really shitty dead end jobs when they found out how bad the job market really is. Meanwhile I left behind several friends who bought houses and got stuck in really shitty dead end jobs when they found out how bad the job market really is. They're trapped. Upside down on a house as the job market got worse and/or not making enough money to save for the move.
I got lucky. I was born there but left for a job I happened to land by a combination of skill and dumb luck. Thing is, I've got a kid in college. As long as I'm willing to live like crap in a big city then the high pay lets me pay for her school. Had I not landed the job I have now I'd still be trapped and she'd be going to a shitty community college and on her way to a crap career.
So unless Pittsburgh has the jobs for real then techies had best steer clear. And it's damn hard to tell. Maybe fly out there and try meeting with people at the local computer club.
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I am still flabbergasted by the number of companies who post positions for developers with "NO REMOTE WORK". In this day and age, a company whose main front-facing presence is a web or mobile app has absolutely -no- excuse to demand in-office presence, given the huge economic gradient presented by some urban centers. If they really want the best talent, drop the requirement for relocation, damn it!
For example there was an article recently in the news about how Vancouver tech companies couldn't find enough workers to fill their positions; they admitted workers were hesitant to move into the area due to housing costs. Well duh, then don't require your workforce to live in one of the most expensive areas in Canada!
Management that demands in-office developers is either out of touch with modern collaboration/tracking tools, or just plain does not trust their workers. I wouldn't want to work for a company with either of those flaws.
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Well, you could choose Houston or Austin, if you don't like the cold! Houses in both cities are very affordable compared to Silicon Valley standards, and there are plenty of tech jobs.
HOLD that thought there cowboy.
I came to Humble (suburb of Houston) in 2014 because of jobs jobs jobs and my previous employer offered me a position with a tick up in responsibility if I moved from Florida (Tampa area). Tampa back then had a HUGE unemployment rate over 10% and was still suffering in the Great Recession.
Housing prices back in 2014 were cheap. I suffering from the Great Recession lost my savings so I was planning to rebuild and buy a home in Houston by now.
Texas had the lowest unemployment rate, cheap housing, mild sub tropical climate, lots and lots of jobs, never entered the recession. .... Fast forward to 2018
Oil and gas prices have tumbled!! I have been laid off 3 times now. All my coworkers who used to make money hands over fist are making $25/hr with no benefits as contractors. I was laid off again as cheap Indians are going to fly in and take our department jobs away thanks to the Gartners Group efficiency experts. Housing prices have gone up 30%!
The job market in Texas is terrible now thanks to the energy industry race to the bottom as the price of oil is still down 70% from 2014. If you are in tech you are not employed in Exxon, Shell, etc. Unless of course you are an H1B1 visa holder.
Meanwhile my phone is ringing off the hook from Florida recreuiters. Tampa is NOW HOT and they are struggling to find competent I.T. workers. Pent up demand from the last recession hit my former place.
My point is in 2018 things have flipped. Once was hot is cold and vice versa.
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I was living in an average home on a postage-stamp sized lot. I work from home, so I moved onto a one-acre private treed lot.. In a place where I can get this 10 minutes away from a major city. You would not believe what it has done for my stress level, being able to walk out and see nature every day instead of my neighbors.
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Or, you know, just have sufficient investments to pay the rent. If you want to be successful in life, you need to understand investing - don't be the guy who can only manage to save money as equity. Renting or owning then becomes a decision on its own merits as an investment. Even owning a house outright has a lot of fixed costs.
Rule of thumb: if houses in the area sell for 100 months' rent (for a reasonably-equivalent place), buy ASAP. If houses in the area sell for 200 months' rent, keep renting. In between? Depends on the deal you can get on the house.
Real estate speculation is a whole different topic, but I prefer investment to speculation.
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Better enslaved for 15-30 years and then free, than enslaved for life renting.
Depends.
Typically renting costs $x per month, and buying costs $(x + y) per month.
If you actually have the y, you could choose to put it into retirement savings for the 30 years instead of buying.
Depending on your situation, that might actually turn out better than ending up with an ((age when you bought it) + 30 years) old house. YMMV