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Business

Oliver Acevedo
Oliver Acevedo
4,338 Points
Posted by Oliver Acevedo
Oliver Acevedo
4,338 Points

Do I really need to move to San Francisco?

Ok, so I know I don't HAVE to but it just seems like everywhere I read is telling that if I'm serious about web development, San Francisco is where it's at.

Right now I live in Florida. I'm thinking of making a career change into Web Development. I would be willing to move to San Francisco if it means I could truly find my passion there. I just wonder how much harder it would be to follow this dream while staying in Florida.

Anybody else here feel like if they really want to get ahead they need to move to SF?

5 Answers

Luna Kang
Luna Kang
6,522 Points

I would start with informational interviews with web development companies in Florida, and as suggested earlier, head out to meetups and mixers. It is important to keep an eye out for trends in SF, but you can easily interact and follow trendsetters remotely. If you are truly interested in relocating to SF, I would suggest visiting for a conference first and getting a feel for the scene (http://mobilewebdevconference.com/)

Ricky Catron
Ricky Catron
13,023 Points
Ricky Catron
Ricky Catron
13,023 Points

I think the great thing about Web development is you can do it from anywhere! Remoting in is becoming very popular for tech companies so even if the company is in SF you can work from Miami or Dublin or London. I personally would love to visit SF because of the start up and tech culture that seems to permeate the city but move there....I don't know.

--Ricky

William Li
PLUS
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points
William Li
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points

Ricky is correct, lots of remote opportunities are available today.

I live in San Francisco area. Yeah, SF is a great place to visit if you're a developer, in addition to many cool startups, there're numerous tech meetups and hackatons you can checkout. But speaking of living in San Francisco? The housing price here has be a constant source of lots of my sleepless nights, alas.

Oliver Acevedo
Oliver Acevedo
4,338 Points
Oliver Acevedo
Oliver Acevedo
4,338 Points

I've looked into remote jobs but they look pretty competitive. I didn't think I could get an entry level remote position but yea, that would be ideal. Rent in SF is 6X the amount that I pay for mortgage here in South Florida. Florida isn't "cheap" but compared to SF, I'm living for peanuts here...

I just wonder how much harder it is to get into this field living outside of SF.

Ricky Catron
Ricky Catron
13,023 Points
Ricky Catron
Ricky Catron
13,023 Points

Like William suggested you could search for meetups in your area and meet like minded developers. You might even find work. Living in SF might help but I doubt not living there will hold you back.

Goodluck! --Ricky

Jack Leonard
Jack Leonard
2,894 Points
Jack Leonard
Jack Leonard
2,894 Points

Web development is Global, San Fran is for Startups and big firms a like, if your looking at freelance you can do it Anywhere,

I'm from Ireland - And we've got some of Europe's most successful web dev firms all over the country, Web dev isn't exclusive to any state or place, thats what it makes it so accessible.