Moving to California

Published 2007-06-08 at 22:23:53Z under biographical, homepage

So a few weeks ago, I got an e-mail from a Google recruiter. Six phone
interviews and a few days spent in Mountain View later, I was given a job
offer. I'm really excited, but I'm dreading the mountain of work and planning I
have to do between now and then to relocate. I've always had someone else to
move with me when I went to a new city, but this time I'm doing it alone!

My biggest concern initially was the high cost of living. The median rent out
there is about $1600, which is over double what I'm paying today. The median
house, though, is something like $600-700,000 though (with a mortgage of about
$3600/month). That's absolutely insane. With rents that low, I don't understand
how anyone thinks it's cost-effective to buy a house out there. You could spend
less money renting a nicer house, invest the rest, and have more money+equity
renting than buying. Fortunately, though, housing is really the only major cost
of living difference (though I suppose gas is a big deal too).

AT&T was a great place to work, but over the last few years, with all of its
mergers, the work environment changed significantly, so when this offer
appeared, though I wasn't actually looking, it was something I just couldn't
pass up.

I might write more about the interview process later, provided I'm not breaking
my NDA. In the mean time, if anyone has any advice about moving to or living in
the Bay Area, I'd love to read it.

π
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