I pay $2,800 for a 3,200 sqft house in a safe, walkable, quiet neighborhood near downtown with better weather than SF.

I'm not saying you can't have a good life in SF, but it's much more common to have a terrible life, and the (small) career opportunities aren't worth.

I also think SF has particularly bad startup culture because of the particular VCs there, but that's a matter of preference. I'd rather work on "boring" startups with gray-haired industry veterans than a moonshot with arrogant, unproven 28 year olds who went to Stanford.

It really sounds like you have a chip, or a few, on your shoulder.

My wife and I were born and educated in the Denver area. We owned a home in the area with a mortgage way less than thr rents were talking about here. We tried to live in the area while progressing my career but there are real limitations. Once we moved to the bay area my career totally blossomed. It was indeed a lifestyle change.

Back to the topic at hand, giving OP advice. He didn't post asking for advice on better cost of living, etc. He asked for advice on moving to SF. There is no substitute for your career than spending your younger years in a crucible like the bay area. It's good advice for them to move there while they're young and can take advantage of the connections made and knowledge learned for a lifetime.

You can say I have a chip on my shoulder because I think SF isn't worth it, but then so do a huge number of people who currently live there [1].

OP asked for advice about moving to SF based on misconceptions he has about career opportunities, so I feel good about telling him to reconsider (as most other people in the thread have).

1. https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/3654062-thes...

No he doesn’t, it has completely devolved from the great city it once was. It’s painful to think about, I had / have so much love for that place, but it has become mismanaged to a complete s*ithole. Forget about ever raising a family there and trying to work in tech / startup world.