As a long time resident of Oakland, I'd like to relate some awesome things about Oakland, none of which the author touched on. Well, I guess the diversity and "Real-ness" count.
Oakland is a hell of a lot cheaper to live in. Groceries, restaurants, rent, drinks, office space, hotel rooms, air fare: everything is cheaper.
In Oakland, we have a burgeoning uptown scene, punctuated by the Art Murmur, an event which started in 2005, and has blossomed into a giant street festival that very accurately reflects the diversity of Oakland. It's a First Friday roll call for the city, and the Bay Area.
That "Beer Garden" mentioned elsewhere, was a hipster coffee shop before that, and a cheap cafe before that, all willingly handed with great care from owner to owner. Gentrification has room to spread in Oakland, so while some complain about it, it mostly removes empty lots and vacant windows, not mom and pop businesses.
The Mission, on the other hand, sees gentrification at the cost of existing businesses. And speaking of the Mission, Oakland's Fruitvale district is the cheapest, most active place you can live for under 4 figures, while still being 30 minutes from downtown SF via BART or car. Fruitvale has become quite the destination, for the adventurous.
I could go on: The Chapel of Chimes is a Julia Morgan masterpiece, a labyrinth of death located in the hills. The Rose garden has a resident turkey. There's a couple breweries that host quiet BBQ's, Jack London Square, the various parks in the hills. The Hills.... The Fox and the Paramount. Van Kleefs.
It's easier to make this work when the company is smaller.
One of the big advantages of SF (and especially the financial district) is that it's possible for most people in the city, the East Bay _and_ the South Bay to get to work in less than an hour. I want to make the commute decent for as many employees as possible.
"It's easier to make this work when the company is smaller."
Oh jeez. The way people talk about it now, you'd think that San Francisco was some sort of eternal pre-requisite for founding a startup, rather than the flavor of the moment. Startups didn't want to be here until a few years ago, and it isn't exactly a practically motivated decision today. Startups get founded here mostly because a certain subset of 20-somethings want to live in the city.
Then do not commute! If you were in Oakland, you workers could actually afford to live near work and...walk. Commuting in SF is horrible because it is packed. Oakland has enough problems without memes about non-existent commuter issues. PS you could live downtown SF and Bart to downtown Oakland in less than 20 mins. PSS downtown Oakland is a great place to live. Or Go Uptown
From someone who lives in Massachusetts, how difficult is it to commute between Oakland and San Francisco? On a map they're about as close as Cambridge and Boston. Is there a huge difference between, say, driving a car and taking the BART?
Welcome! Breezy's been based in Oakland since starting in 2009 (or 2011 if you prefer to count from initial funding), and it's great.
There are more people than you might think who are happy to live and work here here, and you just can't beat the rent or the weather. Feel free to swing by sometime and say hello - we're always happy to meet others in the small club that is the Oakland startup world.
Yea, the gentrification is spilling over from SF to the east bay. Long time residents are being pushed out while "beer gardens" and other businesses that cater to 20-something yuppies are popping up all over.
I'm not from San Francisco and never been into, but I cant understand how is this something important.
Oakland is a bridge away from SF, is there a real change?
I live in the Mission, and I agree with you. Oakland is 30 minutes away from SF. This is like moving to South San Francisco and claiming it makes a makes a substantial difference to your business. You're still in the middle of the bay area.
Why not just not partake in all of these startup events and meetings instead of moving? I have the same opinions as the author about all the startup noise and groupies here in KC. Which is why I avoid most of them.
This is a good question, and I have two answers.
1) You are paying a high premium in San Francisco for the privilege of that stuff and it's simply not worth it.
2) The culture is pretty affected by the echoing and it gets kind of hard to escape. For example, going out to bars people frequently start conversations with things like "what startup do you work for"
Let me start by saying I like the sentiment here. The hardest thing about living in NYC is knowing too many people. They distract you and give a false sense of comfort towards your situation. I get that.
But, I have a problem with this, is moving an hour outside of a city really relocating? I'd argue if you don't want to be comfortable move to a city where you have no connections. Focus on somewhere not particularly welcoming to tech entrepreneurs and really get out of the comfort zone. Otherwise, I don't think you really moved your startup anywhere.
Companies, especially tech, in SF usually offer these cards. I think it's the law'ish. It's a mix between the company straight giving you money + pretax deductions. I have the purely company-paid-for option, it covers about 10 days of me going from Concord to montgomery and back.
Do you know anything about the crime in Oakland beyond the superficial 'oh man there is a lot of crime in Oakland!'?
Most of the crime is isolated to a few specific areas. You realize there's a lot of crime in SF, too, right? And that crime is concentrated in the areas where a lot of startups have their offices (e.g. the Fidi). Do you factor that in to your search when you look for a job in the City?
Most of San Francisco is safe, with just one or two neighborhoods being dodgy. Most of Oakland is unsafe, with just one or two neighborhoods being safe.
Oakland is one of the most dangerous cities in the USA. Just because you live there and haven't been gunned down yet, doesn't mean it's not happening to many other people.
It's literally your life, so do your own research and don't listen to me or anybody else.
Yes, there are slightly more violent crimes in Oakland than San Francisco (and there's more property crime in San Frnacisco)[1], but on the whole they are pretty equivalent in terms of safety; especially if you stick to the 'nicer' areas of both.
Risk of dying? Have you even been to Oakland? The area around Jack London Square is just as safe, if not safer than many of the parts of SOMA where startups setup shop.
You're getting downvotes because of how you phrased your comment - but the base point is still there.
I've driven to Oakland once, and it was to pick up a friend after he missed a connection on BART - Within that 30 minute window of me driving to pick him up he was nearly mugged by a group of 3, jumped in a black windowless van as an escape route - and somehow managed to have that driver be an ex-taxi driver who noticed he was in trouble.
There's obviously some more dangerous, and some safer areas of the city - but it's still known as having an extremely high crime rate.
[+] [-] VonGuard|12 years ago|reply
Oakland is a hell of a lot cheaper to live in. Groceries, restaurants, rent, drinks, office space, hotel rooms, air fare: everything is cheaper.
In Oakland, we have a burgeoning uptown scene, punctuated by the Art Murmur, an event which started in 2005, and has blossomed into a giant street festival that very accurately reflects the diversity of Oakland. It's a First Friday roll call for the city, and the Bay Area.
That "Beer Garden" mentioned elsewhere, was a hipster coffee shop before that, and a cheap cafe before that, all willingly handed with great care from owner to owner. Gentrification has room to spread in Oakland, so while some complain about it, it mostly removes empty lots and vacant windows, not mom and pop businesses.
The Mission, on the other hand, sees gentrification at the cost of existing businesses. And speaking of the Mission, Oakland's Fruitvale district is the cheapest, most active place you can live for under 4 figures, while still being 30 minutes from downtown SF via BART or car. Fruitvale has become quite the destination, for the adventurous.
I could go on: The Chapel of Chimes is a Julia Morgan masterpiece, a labyrinth of death located in the hills. The Rose garden has a resident turkey. There's a couple breweries that host quiet BBQ's, Jack London Square, the various parks in the hills. The Hills.... The Fox and the Paramount. Van Kleefs.
And my own personal favorite: http://www.themade.org
[+] [-] drags|12 years ago|reply
One of the big advantages of SF (and especially the financial district) is that it's possible for most people in the city, the East Bay _and_ the South Bay to get to work in less than an hour. I want to make the commute decent for as many employees as possible.
[+] [-] timr|12 years ago|reply
Oh jeez. The way people talk about it now, you'd think that San Francisco was some sort of eternal pre-requisite for founding a startup, rather than the flavor of the moment. Startups didn't want to be here until a few years ago, and it isn't exactly a practically motivated decision today. Startups get founded here mostly because a certain subset of 20-somethings want to live in the city.
[+] [-] sAuronas|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dgallagher|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jaredhansen|12 years ago|reply
There are more people than you might think who are happy to live and work here here, and you just can't beat the rent or the weather. Feel free to swing by sometime and say hello - we're always happy to meet others in the small club that is the Oakland startup world.
[+] [-] fourstar|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brennenHN|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] melange|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] guelo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] Apocryphon|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Apocryphon|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chudi|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seldo|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaroneous|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjbiddle|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spo81rty|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brennenHN|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] benblodgett|12 years ago|reply
But, I have a problem with this, is moving an hour outside of a city really relocating? I'd argue if you don't want to be comfortable move to a city where you have no connections. Focus on somewhere not particularly welcoming to tech entrepreneurs and really get out of the comfort zone. Otherwise, I don't think you really moved your startup anywhere.
[+] [-] wildgift|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jchrisa|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessepollak|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] venportman|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] smtddr|12 years ago|reply
Companies, especially tech, in SF usually offer these cards. I think it's the law'ish. It's a mix between the company straight giving you money + pretax deductions. I have the purely company-paid-for option, it covers about 10 days of me going from Concord to montgomery and back.
[+] [-] avty|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xen99|12 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] yeahrightoak|12 years ago|reply
This kid is naive.
[+] [-] mmanfrin|12 years ago|reply
Most of the crime is isolated to a few specific areas. You realize there's a lot of crime in SF, too, right? And that crime is concentrated in the areas where a lot of startups have their offices (e.g. the Fidi). Do you factor that in to your search when you look for a job in the City?
[+] [-] yapcguy|12 years ago|reply
Most of San Francisco is safe, with just one or two neighborhoods being dodgy. Most of Oakland is unsafe, with just one or two neighborhoods being safe.
Oakland is one of the most dangerous cities in the USA. Just because you live there and haven't been gunned down yet, doesn't mean it's not happening to many other people.
It's literally your life, so do your own research and don't listen to me or anybody else.
[+] [-] alaskamiller|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessepollak|12 years ago|reply
Yes, there are slightly more violent crimes in Oakland than San Francisco (and there's more property crime in San Frnacisco)[1], but on the whole they are pretty equivalent in terms of safety; especially if you stick to the 'nicer' areas of both.
[1] http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Crime-up-in-Oakland-much...
[+] [-] iancmyers|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjbiddle|12 years ago|reply
I've driven to Oakland once, and it was to pick up a friend after he missed a connection on BART - Within that 30 minute window of me driving to pick him up he was nearly mugged by a group of 3, jumped in a black windowless van as an escape route - and somehow managed to have that driver be an ex-taxi driver who noticed he was in trouble.
There's obviously some more dangerous, and some safer areas of the city - but it's still known as having an extremely high crime rate.
[+] [-] dllthomas|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
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