> Availability and pay of tech jobs is a sore spot for Charlotte and Chattanooga

? I live in Charlotte, and there is no shortage of 90-135k$ salaried jobs with full benefits, especially if you code in C# or Java. That salary range is _more_ than enough for the house of your dreams, and the ability to be the sole provider for your family if you wish, (however being a DINK is pretty fun, too).

For comparison, I have heard 90k in Charlotte is like 135k in NYC and 150k in the bay area.

A quick Stackoverflow job search shows seven postings in the past month. Two of them are what I would consider regular software engineering jobs. That's horrific to somebody who's worked in a healthy job market where, after a layoff, you can land another good job in a matter of days. Also there's the matter of career fulfillment. In Charlotte, you can either work for a startup for 60-90k or a soul-grinding finance job (or similar) if you want more. There aren't many of the former positions either.

RTP is a much better proposition in that part of the country. Similar cost of living and a real software industry.

So I know people who work as devs at banks- they live in big houses, work reasonable hours, have families and kids and hobbies like restoring cars or fishing. How is that more soul-grinding than working 10 hour days at some SV unicorn for imaginary equity with an hour commute to a one bedroom apartment?

it must be fun to hang out with your roomate in your 40's

google has (two or three?) atlanta offices (going by your username)