Hacker News Reader

Comment by webwielder2 | Hacker News Reader

Serious question: what's another place in the US with mild year-round weather, walkable neighborhoods (haven't driven a car in 12 years), and easy access to an international airport? That's what SF offers me. The "SF is an unlivable hellhole" drumbeat is so loud that I almost feel compelled to move (my own experience be damned), but I'm not sure where to.

View on HN

There is no such place in the US. And SF is not it either. San Jose appears to be steadily improving, though this is not a recommendation at all. This is my perspective traveling and living around the northern hemisphere awhile, including substantive time in SF. Manchester NH is within an easy Uber ride of BOS and may be of interest. Winters aren't so great but you can easily fly as far south as Puerto Rico, which has massive crime problems and barely functioning government. There are obviously various options in between. My opinion is that the US is generally inhospitable, SF included, and is unlikely to change substantively in the next several decades. California could start banging out housing, improve transit and reform healthcare delivery and it would probably take at least 20 years to catch up... to what you'll easily find outside the country. America is at the stagnation point in transition through institutional and socio-economic cycles based on what I understand and the solutions aren't super clear at the moment--at least not as clear as the problems.

>"Manchester NH is within an easy Uber ride of BOS and may be of interest."

I had not heard of this before. Is it walkable? It looks like pretty country outside there. I would be curious how you found it.

> what's another place in the US with mild year-round weather, walkable neighborhoods (haven't driven a car in 12 years), and easy access to an international airport?

If you consider SF (the city) weather mild, there are a ton of cities in the US that match what you're looking for. They just don't have the tech orientation and cachet that you associate with living in SF.

Don't feel compelled to move. If you don't know why you want out of SF, don't leave.

Everybody who is saying how horrible it is aren't going to live your life for you. Don't try to live theirs.

Too bad the USA has practically no livable cities.

Agreed, California is pretty special. I think its easy to get hung up on "mild year-round weather", it actually gets boring and I prefer 4 proper seasons. I enjoy some snow and some hot summers which means most of the country is available.

As someone who lives there and is taking a very hard look at other towns, the answer is none. Some small parts of LA come close.

Do you also want a city that borders the ocean and is also a 5 hour drive to one of the most beautiful national parks in the country? I think you might be out of luck.

Have you ever been to Santa Monica or San Diego?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com