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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."
There is an important point here. What good is a six figure income, if you have a six figure cost of living?
;)
Heck, I have been a self employed contract computer programmer for the last 30+ years, I only go to my office 2 miles from my house 2-3 times a month. I work remote on most everything from my home office with 1-2 local on sites a month with my local clients. I didn't even drive my car the last 2 weeks of Feb 2018.
The illusion that for IT you need to be in one of the high cost urban centers is untrue. Think for yourself, think outside the box.
Just my 2 cents
There are a decent number of jobs in Pittsburgh. Aside from Duolingo, there is a NetApp office, a Google office, a (new) Microsoft development office, Uber's self-driving car lab, Argo's (Ford's) self-driving lab, Aurora's (yet another self-driving car company), CERT, the Software Engineering Institute, the Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center, many jobs at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, an Apple machine learning office, and a small Amazon development office. There are a bunch of startups, as well.
:-)
That's off the top of my head. Don't get me wrong, even the relatively large offices are less than 1000 employees each; we're not talking about something like Amazon or Microsoft's *home* office, with 10s of thousands of employees. But there are a decent number of interesting jobs in Pittsburgh, and the place has more character than a random Silicon Valley town. And housing is definitely affordable; you can get a 4 BR house in the city for about $400-500K, and probably a bit less in a suburb with a good school system.
Must love snow
Don't go to Houston or Austin. Houston is the armpit of America. You have to air condition 10 months out of the year and you can't enjoy being outside because it's over 100 degrees F with 90% humidity most of the time. There's ungodly traffic and bugs and it's the ugliest city I've ever seen. The only reason to move to Houston is if you have a plan to go there for a year, make a lot of money and then leave. It's awful. The people there are great and the food is great, but it's one big expressway and everything is 30 min to an hour away. I lived in the best part of town and it still was complete shit. There were concerts in the Miller Outdoor Theater all the time, but you couldn't go because you felt like you were suffocating. And, they have hurricanes, which I learned about first hand back at the end of August. Also, there are mosquitoes the size of pigeons.that will attack you if you so much as open your car window (not that you would open your car window because it's stifling outside.
Austin is much nicer, but it's also very hot and very crowded and the traffic is awful and it's played out. If you want to go to Austin, take a trip there in December or something, but unless you've got something going at SXSW. Avoid at all costs. Also, it's in the State of Texas, which might sound good because there's no state income tax, but food is a lot more expensive and you'll spend a ton on utilities to air condition your place and you will be unhappy because it's a very ugly place. Like Houston, most people are nice, but few assholes there are run the state.
Pittsburgh is better. Yes, there's an awful winter, but the people are authentic, you can afford to live there, it has a great music scene and actual history and neighborhoods and human beings outside. And it's a short drive to something beautiful. Unlike Houston. You know how in most cities you can drive for an hour and you'll be out in the country and it will be nice? You can drive for an entire day from Houston and not see anything nice. I'm serious. Nothing but oil refineries in two directions, swamp in another direction and scrub in the other direction.
Don't undervalue the importance of living somewhere beautiful.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Judging from the comments so far, I don't think Duolingo is going to have many takers. However, I lived in Pittsburgh for almost 20 years before I moved back to Ca, so I would like to give it my endorsement. We bought a 5 bedroom house in a good school district for $255k. There's a lot to do in the city. It has museums, professional sports teams, good restaurants, etc... Life is less stressful; people are friendly. It's a family-oriented city, and Pittsburgh is often voted "most livable" city in the U.S. by various magazines. Now, the weather is not great, but it also doesn't get a lot of snow in the winter. Certainly it is nothing like what people imagine if they are still thinking steel mills - those all closed 30-40 years ago. The air is clean and the countryside is beautiful. Now, the big players are health care, research, and universities.
The question is, YOU! job postings! You have skills, those skills have a market! And I see most here are concerned about job postings!
;)
;)
There is a world out there, build something of your own. Why does everyone think they need to be employed by someone?
I know I am old 62, and over the hump, but I am never going to retire. I when to collage 5 times and in my day had 10k in school debt. I did not get a degree. I educated my self, started a business, paid my old school debt and have been in business for 30 years.
I wonder if I could do the same today, not sure to be honest.But reality is what it is
Just my 2 cents
The question is, YOU! job postings! You have skills, those skills have a market!
A new life awaits you in the Off-World colonies! The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure! New climate, recreational facilities.....absolutely free!
Better enslaved for 15-30 years and then free, than enslaved for life renting.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
3 major things keep companies in California, all related to talent
1) Weather. Let's face it, California weather is hard to beat. Most places you have to worry about running the AC and dehumidifier, or worry about running the heater and paying for heating oil, along with clothing and maintenance costs to deal with the weather. California gets to skip all of that, or have it as an optional thing you just pay for if you want it (mountain cabin, home out in the Inland Empire).
2) Non competes and at will. Non competes are void here, so companies have no real way to chain people to their work if they are good. Employees can walk. It is also at will, which means employers are also not chained to their employees if they suck. Employers can walk. This promotes the greatest mobility of workers and business, and tends to arrive at situations where both sides get what they want.
3) Infrastructure. Specifically the master plan of education of California which leads to the Cal State and UC systems which pump out grads to satisfy the tech industry, as well as the other major industries. This plus the private universities means theirs plenty of good people to pick from.
All the above lead to a demand that makes California expense. On top of this, the housing market is distorted because California citizens voted themselves incredibly low property taxes, which promotes never selling properties. This means for many companies, they get property taxes that can not be found anywhere else, despite the high property values.
Oh, hey, another pack of lies from a hatemonger!
In fact, California is 42nd per capita in amount of money received from the feds per dollar spent in taxes:
http://www.politifact.com/cali...
Californians in fact receives roughly 22% LESS per capita than the national average.
I'm sorry to inform you, but calling a nebulous group of people "jagoffs" qualifies you for the title as well.
It used to be, whenever you migrated any significant distance it was because you planned to assimilate into the culture of your chosen destination. In the past (say, Ellis Island) this went so far as including things like learning a new language or changing your name, things that people were damned proud to do because they considered themselves fortunate. You went to America to become an American, not a hyphenated Something-American. If for any reason you didn't want to become an American, you went someplace else. The trend now is to bring your old culture with you and to never assimilate, claiming victimhood if this ever causes any friction whatsoever.
Bearing in mind that the USA has more landmass than many countries and that regions of the USA have their own cultural flavor, you're seeing the same thing on a smaller scale within the US when people make major moves to different cities. Natives of a place don't like to see an invasion of newcomers who want new opportunities but don't want to respect the established culture. They never have and it's likely they never will. You can see the same thing when rural Southern areas have an influx of new residents who got tired of $Big_City, only to bring many of its attitudes with them.
"Jagoff" is just a much shorter way to say this. In your rush to judgment of a rather nuanced issue, perhaps you could look in the mirror a bit more?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
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.
http://saveie6.com/
I rather think worrying about feeding a furnace in Pittsburgh is a bit overblown.
A few stats:
Average temperature: 52F
Annual high temperature: 61.4F
Average annual precipitation - rainfall: 34.8 inch
Annual low temperature: 42.6F
And snow ??
Snowfall is 27 inches. The average US city gets 26 inches of snow per year.
On average, there are 160 sunny days per year in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The July high is around 84 degrees. The January low is 22. Sperling's comfort index for Pittsburgh is a 52 out of 100, where a higher score indicates a more comfortable year-around climate. The US average for the comfort index is 54.
So, pretty much an average climate, with a much lower cost-of-living than the Bay Area.
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.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
San Francisco is historically beautiful, buy what’s “quality of life” about needles crunching underfoot, and bums reaching out to grab you as you walk down the street?
Around here, when needles crunch underfoot you’re under a pine tree.
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.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.