A key part of living in big cities is the optionality. Because some of these cities are so dense with engineers , investors etc that the probability of something positive happening to you is far higher than other cities. for e.g. the odds of getting a meeting with investors or getting feedback on a key product direction will be higher in dense cities such as SF.
Of course the tradeoff of that is the costs are higher. Very rarely do you find an arbitrage situation where the optionality of something positive happening to you is higher AND the cost of living is lower
Berlin: One of the cheapest capitals in Europe, reasonably vibrant IT scene. Apartments inside the city can be had for as little as 300€ if you hunt long enough, although 600-700€ is becoming the new standard. Restaurants are cheap too: 5€ for lunch, 7-9€ for dinner. Lots of space, little traffic, the best public transport network in Europe, tons of lakes and green spaces.
Yes, I live here. All prices are per month. If you want to live inside the S-Bahn ring, you will find it difficult nowadays to pay less than 600-700€ a month for a two-bedroom apartment. The low end of €300 is probably only realistic for one-bedroom apartments outside the ring or maybe a two-bedroom apartment in the high-rise buildings in the suburbs.
You can live in Berlin without knowing much German, but services and bureaucracy will be a bit painful. It's not like Scandinavia, where people feel insulted if you ask them if they speak English. Many Germans, even educated ones, are not really confortable speaking English. It's not that they're not willing, many of them actually can't speak it or speak it badly. Of course, everything is easier with younger people.
Average gross salaries for developers range from 45,000€ a year for juniors to 60,000€ for seniors. Expect to earn around 60% to 70% of that after taxes, social security and health insurance.
Not at all! I lived in Atlanta for a while just before the 1996 Olympics. I was paying somewhere in the $300-500 (~200-300 Euros) per month range for a 1 bedroom. It was one of the cheapest big cities in the states.
I moved to Chicago that summer and couldn't find a livable space for less than $800/mo. That was almost 20 years ago. Today I live in Los Angeles, and you could not find anything livable here for EUR 500 ($700US) per month. You could easily find something for $700US/week, though. I'm sure New York is as bad as San Fran and worse than Chicago, too. I'm not saying our rents aren't outrageous, just that it's not specific to some SF bubble. Just about any large city in the US is going to be costly to find decent living.
I think a better choice for startups and tech-minded people would be Amsterdam. I'm currently living in Amsterdam on around 900~eur/month, a room can cost between 300 and 500 eur/month plus you need health insurance and food.
There are a lot of tech opportunities here, plenty of startup and also big companies. VC is getting bigger here as well so it's a thriving hub if you want to found your own startup.
I've been living here since last August, so I'm probably not the best judge for the weather, especially since I'm Italian and I'm used to quite a different weather.
This year, from what I've heard, has been warmer than usual (pretty much no snow in winter). It is very windy all over the year but we've been getting really warm and nice days since the middle of March and it's only going to get better. Winter is dark and cold, but I'd say this is true for any place you go to in central-northern Europe (and even Italy or Spain as well).
Of course the tradeoff of that is the costs are higher. Very rarely do you find an arbitrage situation where the optionality of something positive happening to you is higher AND the cost of living is lower