And now for something a bit different.
A friend recently posted this link in an online community I’m involved in, the Cleveland Tech Slack: https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619 with the joke that “Cleveland is not in last place this year!” (it came in second-to-last place, only beaten by Detroit – at least we’re not Detroit!)
I was both amused and reflective about this – I moved away from Cleveland (#181/182) to San Jose (#5/182) in 2019, and had a few thoughts on how my happiness has changed since then, so I gathered them and shared them to the community.
In the interest of forever capturing how I feel right now, I thought I’d share it here, as well! Enjoy:
================
3/10/21, Cleveland Tech Slack
Having lived in Cleveland for 33 years, then moved to San Jose, CA (#5) in 2019 – a few thoughts and anecdotes on this. First, obviously, it depends on what makes you happy. They list (1) Emotional & Physical Well-Being, (2) Income & Employment, and (3) Community & Environment, so I’ll go by that:
Emotional & Physical Well-Being
- The weather here is ridiculous. I can go for walks/MTB rides just about every day of the year. There is no winter. The flowers are everywhere, all year round. We have hummingbirds that live on our porch. The hiking is delightful, and you’re surrounded by mountains, ocean beaches, and forests. Snow is something you visit for fun.
- Moving here totally cured my Seasonal Affective Disorder, which hit me with depression like a truck every year in CLE.
- As a result, I’m more physically active than ever before (easier to stick to routines without seasonal change!). I lost 20lbs, I’m eating healthier, more diverse foods, and I have more energy (battery capacity) than ever before, even during COVID.
Income & Employment
- The amount of (tech) opportunities here is wild. I didn’t truly understand this until I moved here. Ever seen a David Attenborough rainforest documentary? It’s like that, but instead of verdant ecology, it’s cutting-edge technology. Driving down the street takes me past LinkedIn’s hq, 23andMe hq, Facebook offices, nVidia, you name it…it’s here.
- Seriously, I randomly met a guy (he’s originally from North Olmsted!), standing in line behind me at a Mexican restaurant, who works at a startup as the Senior Design Engineer for creating Deep Learning hardware. You know, just casual stuff.
- The money just scales differently out here. Again, I had to experience it to understand it. Fun exercise: If you’ve never done it, check out what your title/role makes at a FAANG, then realize that there are a lot more companies than just FAANGs who will pay competitive salaries – and probably remotely! Start applying!
- The network opportunities out here are prolific. In less than two years, I’ve connected with enough high-level people to never front-door my way into a job again.
Community & Environment
- The cultural diversity here is beautiful, and companies (especially FAANG) make a point to emphasize it. During training, I was in a room with 30 other people and I was the only white male. This would have never happened in Cleveland.
- This also makes for a lot of awesome restaurants, shops, and services you wouldn’t encounter in Cleveland (no pierogies, though, which is a huge drawback).
- Being a midwest transplant in a semi-transient neighborhood (lots of renters and FAANG employees who move around a lot) gives me a huge advantage – they’re all looking for connections, but nobody is bold enough to make them. Fortunately I learned how to be a good neighbor growing up in Cleveland, and we’ve made friends with everyone in a block’s radius – they’re from all over the world – and I can’t wait to throw parties to introduce everyone to each other.
With all that being said, there are definitely some huge drawbacks, especially as a native Clevelander:
- I miss weather. Watching storms roll in over Lake Erie, snuggling with my wife over a fire when it’s snowy, hell even the random 70ºF days in the middle of winter – they were all a nice change and the diversity made me appreciate the nice days even more.
- CA taxes are really high. I got a yearly 2020 bonus, and only received 59.8% of the money paid out. I don’t hate taxes, and I understand why, but that still hurts.
- Pizza in California SUCKS. During COVID, my wife and I took a 3-hour road trip to Sacramento to eat at the closest Marco’s Pizza. And it was bliss.
- I’ll never afford a house here – and don’t want to. Even with the inflated salaries, I figure I’ll need to live here at least 10 years to even think about affording a house. My 1200sqft rental lists for >$1.5 million. Disgusting.
- On that note, constantly living in fear of the next natural disaster (fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) is definitely something on my mind (and another reason I won’t buy a house here). There are so many people here, and if something big happens, it’s going to be a mad house. I worry for our safety. Cleveland, by contrast, is safe.
- Leaving all my friends, family, memories, and contacts behind was (and continues to be) really hard, especially during COVID. The homesickness is real.
Cleveland is home. That’ll never change. But taking the leap to move out here was totally worth it…for now. With all that being said, I’d be happy to talk with anyone considering a move out to Silicon Valley…but I’d definitely encourage you to look at remote positions first, because Bay Area salary while living in Cleveland is a path to early retirement!!