I think with the sudden popularity of remote work, NZ could become a very desirable destination for tech workers to immigrate. Looking at some of the social problems that SF suffers from, though, I’m not sure that you’d want us.

>Looking at some of the social problems that SF suffers from, though, I’m not sure that you’d want us.

SF residents should be locked into the place and made deal with the mess they've made. Actually, you could probably expand that to Californians as a whole.

I feel utterly awful for the areas who are absorbing the brunt of the outward migration from that state.

I've heard em called "Reverse Okies"

Not super popular in the Northwest; WA is expensive enough, and open complaining about it in Boise and MT.

Sure, come on in, we will embrace you with open arms. We already have SF like social issues here, so we won't mind. Our housing is messed up on even a grander scale than SF. It's not all flowery here either, but it's way better than many other places on the planet atm.

The time zone is an issue for synchronous things. Housing is expensive, and often poorly insulated. Apart from those, sure. Our internet is reliable, fast and fairly affordable (the ISPs don't own the lines/fibre, so there's a lot of competition). Power is good and mostly renewable (the South Island is ~100% renewable, and again, there's lots of competition).

I think there would be plenty of overlap with the US West coast for anyone willing to start their day a little early (say 6am). And of course any team in the JAPAC region would be doable. I had a quick peak at housing prices just now though and I admit it was scarier than I imagined.

Not if it's expensive

This policy has lost all grip with reality. Where do you see the vibrant tech scene in Auckland? I'd love to see a some economic data from StatsNZ that supports your case. Even Theil sold out as soon as he got his citizenship.

There's a little tech sector here but it is certainly not a major part of the economy. Everything is still based on the real estate ponzi scheme and resources... and a naive political class.

ICT is a significant export earner in NZ and grew 47% from 2017-2019, to $2.1B in 2019 [1]. Compare to the three largest exports, dairy ($16B), tourism ($16B) and meat ($8B) [2]. ([2] is missing education though.)

> I'd love to see a some economic data from StatsNZ that supports your case.

The case/point was that the tech sector in NZ should be supported to grow further. You didn't make an argument that that policy is wrong.

[1] https://techblog.nz/2080-Digital-overtakes-wine-exports [2] https://statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/trade_dashboard/

The bigger issue that NZ has is its old boys network, which wouldn't allow radical ideas and startups to succeed.

The solution is to dilute it with tech entrepreneurs and investors from outside NZ and recreate the landscape.

I live in Wellington and the tech scene here, although small, is quite vibrant.

There is no reason why we can't accommodate those companies and workers who want to move out of SF. The govt will need to give heavy tax incentives and easy route to residency for those entrepreneurs who move their company here.

There's ~5 million people in the N-Zed. Greater NYC has ~20 million. The old boys are there, for sure, but a greater limitation is really just that there are only a handful of these investors and entrepreneurs, and the depth of their options and pocketbooks is limited.

It's like trying to run startups only in Ohio.