I found the weather even at its worst is bearable, but I grew up in Astoria on the coast. Winters are not very cold, snow is somewhat rare, but rain is a given. And besides there's so much to do there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4wAPL3saU ;^).
Re:Ask HN: Good Hacker Cities
by quellhorst on Sunday January 25, 2009 @01:33AM
(#448812)
Great advice about checking out at the worst weather period.
Portland has decent public transit, its cheap to live there, and you can find decent jobs. Although you may not find a wide variety of jobs that aren't corporate. On that note I will say there are a couple startup incubators in town but those jobs fill up quick.
I ended up moving to San Francisco. Great city. Expensive, but fantastic public transit and tons of jobs.
Here are my list of cities in no real order: San Francisco, CA Portland, OR Seattle, WA Boston, MA New York City, NY
Check them out. If you like a few, spend at least a week exploring and getting to know the city a little bit. Also try and go during the worst weather period so you really know you can live there.