Top 5 Geekiest Places to Live in the US

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Here is a list of the top 5 geekiest places to live. Feel free to add your own “mom’s basement is missing” jokes here.

Sure, things like affordable housing, nice neighborhoods with good schools, a strong economy, and enjoyable weather are nice, but where’s the tech? And where are all the other geeks? In these five cities, you’ve got a pretty good shot at finding plenty of geek interests and plenty of other like-minded geeks to share them with (unless you’re one of those geeks without any social skills… you know who you are).
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At first I was going to say I was surprised to not see Boston on that list anymore, but as I think more about it, maybe it's not so surprising.

Turns out we in Boston lost most of our geek cred with the bust of the .com bubble.

I think that the only tech that remains around here now that Polaroid is dead is the shell of what once was EMC^2. Google has a tiny office in Cambridge, but that doesn't really count...

Though I do know a few programmers working on medical research grants for patient record systems and stuff like that...

Our economy has shifted almost completely from predominantly tech in the early 90s to predominantly medical/pharma today.

Housing is still utterly unaffordable. If you want to live in a town with decent schools, expect to pay $400k for a 1200sqft (+200sqft finished basement) condo in a duplex in the shittiest part of town...

Still, I love this place. I wouldn't even consider living anywhere else in the country. (though I wouldn't be opposed to living in Europe for a while). I just wish it were more affordable...
 
Of those I think I'd be particular to San Diego myself. Been there one time just on a short day trip to visit a friend but, had a nice "feel" to it, the weather was right (mid-February, mid-70's as expected). Who knows, maybe someday...
 
Zarathustra[H];1036155967 said:
At first I was going to say I was surprised to not see Boston on that list anymore, but as I think more about it, maybe it's not so surprising.

Turns out we in Boston lost most of our geek cred with the bust of the .com bubble.

I think that the only tech that remains around here now that Polaroid is dead is the shell of what once was EMC^2. Google has a tiny office in Cambridge, but that doesn't really count...

Though I do know a few programmers working on medical research grants for patient record systems and stuff like that...

Our economy has shifted almost completely from predominantly tech in the early 90s to predominantly medical/pharma today.

Housing is still utterly unaffordable. If you want to live in a town with decent schools, expect to pay $400k for a 1200sqft (+200sqft finished basement) condo in a duplex in the shittiest part of town...

Still, I love this place. I wouldn't even consider living anywhere else in the country. (though I wouldn't be opposed to living in Europe for a while). I just wish it were more affordable...
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I hate it here, but maybe thats just me :D.
 
Not much on the east coast :(. I absolutely despise D.C. I've been there several times for business and it's just too damn crowded and traffic is worse than NYC (which I live near) in most places. I'm from KY though, so I hate most densely populated areas. I'm all for a big yard and privacy :p.
 
Bahamut said:
Of those I think I'd be particular to San Diego myself. Been there one time just on a short day trip to visit a friend but, had a nice "feel" to it, the weather was right (mid-February, mid-70's as expected). Who knows, maybe someday...
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I have never lived in San Diego but if I could get a tech job there to afford the city and part of the state, it pretty much would be the best place in the world to live.
 
"Seattle is vibrant progressive city tucked in between the Willamette and Columbia rivers"

Loving how they confuzled us with PORTLAND :rolleyes:
 
weebling1 said:
"Seattle is vibrant progressive city tucked in between the Willamette and Columbia rivers"

Loving how they confuzled us with PORTLAND :rolleyes:
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Lol ya. I read that and thought, wait do they actually mean Portland?! Even then that would be wrong since the Willamette cuts through Portland.
 
How often does it rain in seattle? Im in PHX right now, but after 5 yrs, the constant sun is killing my eyeballs and giving me daily migraines.
 
Jodiuh said:
How often does it rain in seattle? Im in PHX right now, but after 5 yrs, the constant sun is killing my eyeballs and giving me daily migraines.
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I lived there 15 years before moving here to Portland. It really does rain constantly for 9 months of the year though it's been dryer the last few years. The good thing tho is Seattle doesn't get the harsh winters other cities as far north experience.
 
Jodiuh said:
How often does it rain in seattle? Im in PHX right now, but after 5 yrs, the constant sun is killing my eyeballs and giving me daily migraines.
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It only rains regularly in the winter time; the spring and summers are probably the best in the country, they mostly stay between 70 and 85 degrees with the occasional jump into the 90's. There's no triple digit heat for weeks or months on end like down there. The sunlight isn't near as bright or painful as down there either. You spend a day out in the sun down there you need a day to recoup, out here it's so much easier on the eyes. I'm sure if your migraines are light induced, they'll go away up here, even in the summer.

Compared to the rain you get down there, it's a drizzle. It may be overcast and rain the entire day but it doesn't hurt when it hits your skin like the rain down there. When I lived in the southwest, the rain is torrential, up here it's like mist compared to that. Also, if you move up here be prepared to turn a little pale. I moved to the Portland area 2 years ago from ABQ and haven't looked back. Best decision I've made.
 
I have a friend of the family up in Portland and she loves it. I hear there's some epic MTB trails up there too.
 
SIlicon Valley makes sense... except when you look at the bigger picture you'll see its just like every other large metropolitan area, a shit load of people, a shit load of traffic, and costs a shit load to live here... oh yeah we have some computer related companies around I guess, but no where close to where it was.
 
I've lived in Austin for 30 years now. Our city council sucks, but the city itself is pretty good.
 
kaname said:
It only rains regularly in the winter time; the spring and summers are probably the best in the country, they mostly stay between 70 and 85 degrees with the occasional jump into the 90's. There's no triple digit heat for weeks or months on end like down there. The sunlight isn't near as bright or painful as down there either. You spend a day out in the sun down there you need a day to recoup, out here it's so much easier on the eyes. I'm sure if your migraines are light induced, they'll go away up here, even in the summer.

Compared to the rain you get down there, it's a drizzle. It may be overcast and rain the entire day but it doesn't hurt when it hits your skin like the rain down there. When I lived in the southwest, the rain is torrential, up here it's like mist compared to that. Also, if you move up here be prepared to turn a little pale. I moved to the Portland area 2 years ago from ABQ and haven't looked back. Best decision I've made.
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Lies! Damn Lies! It pours, ALL THE TIME - don't come here, you'll grow moss....Sigh... Ok, that's only a rumor perpetuated by Washingtonians to keep everybody else from moving here....

This summer has SUCKED though, SUCKED SUCKED SUCKED - I've lived here all my life and this summer is the worst one I can remember in like 20+ years. Last year we were water skiing in June all the way to late September. This year, we started skiing in July and it's looking like the season is already done due to the weather... Oh well, hopefully we get a nice big snowpack in the mountains this year!.
 
T4rd said:
Not much on the east coast :(. I absolutely despise D.C. I've been there several times for business and it's just too damn crowded and traffic is worse than NYC (which I live near) in most places. I'm from KY though, so I hate most densely populated areas. I'm all for a big yard and privacy :p.
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DC is the worst..i've been here 5 years. I want to come in one day with my M4 and start blasting. lol. i'm just kidding...although i really do have an M4 it's in my sig.
 
It doesn't rain that much up here in Western WA, and if you don't like a lot of rain, live east of the Cascades. Mosses Lake, Spokane, Wenatchee, etc, all nice places with a totally different climate than Seattle. I like how part of the reason Seattle makes the list is because of the tech places in Redmond....Redmond is a horrible city. Worst drivers in WA by far, lots of traffic, it sits in the valley so the weather is erratic as all hell.
 
Austin and San Diego would be doable. I used to love the idea of living in Seattle until i actually went there... being from Pittsburgh i'm trying to get away from this climate...not just move to the western/less backward version of it.
 
Planning to move to San Diego eventually. Definitely a geeks true home.
 
darn no list. linkage don't work on mobile.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Taxi said:
Obviously they meant Beaverton. :D
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Beaverton isn't exactly sandwiched between them either. The only place that you could really say is would be North Portland / St. Johns area, which is kind of a shit hole considering they have their own identity theft task force due to all the crackheads (at least that's what a cop told me that came to me door back in 2002 when a roommate's friend got in trouble) Oh yeah, and the driving through it part was evidence enough.

Anyways, geeky places... yeah Portland is kind of geeky. Not sure I know enough about other places to say it belongs on a list though. Geeky enough for me to like it.
 
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