Ask HN: Where would you move your family to?
Our situation is as follows: * We're both in our thirties and have good careers, but not at any single company. We're respected enough and have deep enough professional networks that we could quit our jobs and have new (probably better) ones by end-of-day.
* We're in roles that could allow for remote work. While having a good local economy is nice, I'm quickly realizing that I don't have to physically be in San Francisco any more.
* My wife hasn't decided if she will return to work after taking maternity leave. I haven't decided if I will return to work after taking paternity leave. We do well, but we're not rich, so one of us needs to work.
* Neither of us has any family in the Bay Area. We're willing to move for a better life. We both speak French and English, and my wife speaks Portuguese, too.
* We've owned our current condo in San Francisco for a bit now, so we could either sell it or rent it out and do very well. We don't feel like SF real estate is squeezing us out by any means. If anything, our San Francisco real estate will probably be a means for our escape.
* Ideally we're looking for someplace that has low crime, good schools, doesn't feel like a rat race, some natural geographic beauty (we like taking hikes and walks), a government that works and makes us feel like we're getting value for our tax dollars, decent transportation options outside of cars, low pollution, and good weather. The last one is qualitative so I'll just say that we're willing to trade San Francisco's perpetual cool mist feel for a place that's hotter and/or colder but actually has real seasons.
So, where should we move to and why?
The south bay is more "family friendly" than SF is, as are some of the cities in both Marin county and the East bay. There are micro climates and there are great variations between city cultures.
That said, if you are intentional about how you want to raise your children, what do you intend? Self reliance? Well connected socially? Depth of understanding about the world? Self motivated?
Something we thought about alot when we had our children was what kind of values we wanted our children to share, what sort of things they would experience to help cement those values in practice, and give them tools for evaluating their impact (positive and negative) on the world around them. Its a lot of work but in our case it worked out well.
The thing about kids is that they don't know anything but what they have experienced so no matter where you go or how they are raised they will consider that normal. Which is a long way of saying they aren't going to come back later and say "Gee, these choices really ruined my life."
We feel like we can be intentional about how we raise our kids regardless of where we are. Moving is as much about us, as it is about our future kids. That said, places with entrenched or legalized discrimination and human rights violations are off the table.
Why do you think so? Do you live like a king?
From my experience, you'll live normal. It's not that US salaries are high, it's Polish (or any other eastern and some western European) salaries are extremely low.
The main things are the weather - hot summers and cool winters (cold enough for a break from the summer, but not too cold). Over a dozen awesome beaches within a short drive from the city. You could easily live near a beach if you wanted to.
There is a big focus on outdoor activity, great facilities for kids - unbelievable number of parks, daycare, sport activities. With so much summer time - get a garden and you can get them out of the house for 8 months of the year.
Education seems good. Healthcare is excellent. 20 days annual leave and 10 days sick leave is mandatory. So is superannuation (pension) so you are saving for the future. Most companies don't expect you to do any unpaid overtime either.
There is a reasonably good tech scene here, and I have no doubt you would find a good job. There is a bit of a start up scene around Fishburners. It is also home to a few of the big ones like Atlassian, Freelance, Campaign Monitor. There is also a ThoughtWorks office, and plenty of banks and finance jobs. Lots of meetups and things like that as you would expect.
People are friendly here, as a parent you would love it because other parents will talk to you and be friendly and your child will make friends easily. It is that kind of culture. I imagine the US is similar but I have not experienced it.
The downsides - you won't earn the top $ you would get in SF, London or NY. You wont get to use French much. House prices are high compared to wages, but for an IT worker owning a house with some outdoor space within 1 hour of the city is not out of the question. You probably already have savings anyway which would make this easier.
You'll earn less, you won't have much for your tax dollars, and you'll need to get used to the weather.
However, it's safer than San Francisco, housing is cheaper, and seasons are very real.
I've got a friend who moved with his young children a couple years ago and seems to love it - should you want an introduction, email me.
Realistically you can probably pick a nice suburb of almost any top 25 population city in the country and get what you're looking for.
"A government that works" is relative. You can be waiting months on your personnummer (Social security number), which will make it much more difficult to get healthcare, banking, or many other services -- even an apartment. The system works, but it mainly only works for those who were born into it.
Problem is that the Swedish migration board (Immigration) is basically setup only to handle refugees. They are not well-equipped to deal with highly trained professionals.
Also, though most people speak English, your lack of Swedish will be a hinderance to making friends and "integrating." Furthermore, as neither of you are Swedish, there is no one to "on-board" you into a community. That will make this only harder and more isolating.
Move to Spain. Probably the best place on earth life/quality wise. Easy to find a tech job (in e.g. Barcelona). Pay is lower of course.
Personal preferences, I guess.
Beautiful, Low Crime, Easy Going, Close to Vancouver and Seattle, Smaller City. Canada! Awesome place to raise kids or retire.
No pizza or bagels though :-(.