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Comment by jpao79 | Hacker News Reader

A few questions for HN:

1.) Do you think San Jose will ever become "a thing" for tech startups? Is there enough to do there? There is a WeWork and San Pedro Square in downtown San Jose. Or is a waterfront view what make San Francisco, Seattle and Portland what they are? Also, if you did want to live in San Jose there where are the up and coming places for HNers to live?

2.) Cupertino used to be cherry orchards and suburbs. Will Morgan Hill (strawberries) or Brentwood (cherries) ever become "a thing"?

3.) Is it bad if housing prices are high on the West and East Coasts? If housing was unconstrained in the Bay Area and at cost parity with the MidWest, wouldn't that remove any reason to live in the MidWest?

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> If housing was unconstrained in the Bay Area and at cost parity with the MidWest, wouldn't that remove any reason to live in the MidWest?

That is hilarious. The Bay Area centrism to imply that there is no reason to live any where else besides cost is absolutely ludicrous.

There's some guys a few cubes over from me talking about how "Not for sale in California" is a marketable feature on engine powered equipment.

Does that mean that the product doesn't meet Californian regulations? How is that a selling point?

California emissions regulations being more stringent than elsewhere (i.e. in the Midwest) means that us flyover rednecks take pride in our big ol' machines that drink up dinosaur guts. Take for example all the stupid-big Ford and Ram pickups chugging along downtown streets here.

The implication being that, even if housing prices were equal, some might prefer to live in SF or Seattle as opposed to Pittsburgh or Columbus due to "culture fit" (hah, a buzzword applied to something novel).

At least, that's how I assume the parent intended their anecdote to be.

There is a comment in this thread recommending moving out of the Bay Area and directly to China, Russia, Brazil as good alternatives.

1) I believe so. Once Google goes into Diridon, enough young people would gather around the station, businesses would also gather, higher-density buildings will go up, start ups will start to gather as well.

2) Cupertino is close enough to Stanford and Moffett, which were the two centers of initial Silicon Valley. Morgan Hill and Brentwood are quite far. Still, its population and real estate markets will grow.

3) High price sometimes attracts people by itself.

Cupertino is so ridiculously boring that no one wants to live there though.

Boring is of course personal opinion ( the prominent Taco Bell behind the welcome to Cupertino sign on Stevens Creek ...) but the latter part of your statement is not supported by local housing/rental price/availability.

You must not like milk tea.

I grew up in SJ. I don't think it will ever be a 'thing' if you're young and want things to do in a vibrant city, even if it does have Pedro square, Santana Row, close access to Santa Cruz and SF, etc. That being said, if you're looking for a quiet place to live with your family then it's a great city. IBM Research has a couple campuses in between SJ and Morgan Hill - probably interesting places to work.

I would rather leave California than move to San Jose.

Oakland has a much better chance.

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