Frankly considering what the big 3 puts out i don't see how the tech industry sees anything but name recognition from Detroit? 

This is exactly it. When we moved to the Canada’s west coast, we were confronted by the exact same thing. But we came to the same conclusion - the benefits of the area are just so extreme that the costs for living here actually made... sense. We just make other adjustments in life - eating in more, replacing cars less…

Yeah, having lived in norther Indiana and the Bay Area, I’ll just say the rent is considerably higher, but the increase to your quality of life in nearly every other way is worth it.

“The illusion of innovation” - I really like that phrase. I work for a startup that has struggled with a real physical product, made here in the US, that essentially nobody else in the world could replicate (well, they could potentially look at our patents and try to figure it out). This product is essential to…

Of course, which is why this is why factories are in poor areas, they don’t have to pay much, cost of living, etc etc. Executives make more, and want to live in nicer areas with nicer amenities, hence; Brain Drain. 

In North Carolina, we have so many transplants who’ve moved here from SF, NYC, or LA as their jobs typically have offices here, their wages either stay the same or go up, and the cost of living is like 40% of what it is in similar places in California. It’s really a no-brainer.

So that is why nobody has ever made a sale in Nebraska?

Its really stupid. We bought our house 11 years ago. Nothing special about it. Its a 1960's 1300 sq foot rancher. We bought it during the last recession and it was $475k. Now its apparently worth 1.2 million even with the pandemic. I originally came from North Carolina. $250k there gets you a huge chunk of land and a…

The difference between $150,000 and $250,000 is fairly significant, though. It means you can essentially spend an extra $100,000 on housing (leaving out tax implications) while not changing your standard of living much. And that’s not to mention things like maxing out social security, 401k and 401k matching go up,…

California, one of the only place where you can sell your house for the same or more than what you bought it for, buy a mansion somewhere else outright with enough money to spec out your new Lamborghini. 

Yeah, and finance people are dumb to move to expensive old Manhattan when you can just trade stocks from anywhere.

I used to work in Mil/Aero and traveled all over the US, Europe and South America for my job. One thing that I learned is that, if the economy is good, there will be bad traffic. When I would get in my rep’s car to be driven to the next call and the roads were empty, I knew that there was no sale today.

I definitely think people underestimate the value of like minded people living around you. My friends in California are mostly all about pushing their careers forward and starting new companies. Back in Michigan most are focused on raising a family and hunting/fishing/drinking on the weekends. Both are perfectly valid…

People in that job market are putting off housing/kids for longer than used to or forgoing it all together. While the cost of living is horrible on the west coast, it is a lot easier to deal with when you’re single or a DINC and care more about living outside the home.

If it’s just an “illusion of innovation from the tech industry,” then it’s an illusion that’s existed since the 1950's. I’d argue that innovation and the tech industry are inextricably linked. Automotive design certainly isn’t stodgy. Most designers and engineers trip over each other for jobs in the automotive…

I’m one of those people that left detroit from an automaker to silicon valley for most of the reasons specified in the article (hardware engineer, so not developing apps). It’s true that housing prices suck in the bay area, but I also didn’t want to buy and live in michigan when I was in my 20's. having lived there…

Exactly. Smart, rich people don’t want to live in Detroit. No amount of “durrrrr, the cost of living is so expensive in the bay area, seattle, etc.” These guys are making well enough money to live comfortably in those cities, this is the CFO of GM we’re talking about here, not some factory worker. 

It’s not just the weather. I moved out of metro Detroit 10 years ago to somewhere with arguably worse weather, even though my dad (and a few of his brothers, and some friends of mine) work at the Big 3, because the whole metro area is depressing as fuck, is difficult to get around, everyone walks around with a chip on…

I had an offer with GM when I graduated in 2000, I’ll never forget when one of the interviewers pointed out the window of their downtown building and said “If you look to the south you can see Canada” all I could think was I’m going to be living north of Canada.  The loss of my “brain” was probably of little…

It’s more than the climate. You have skiing, hiking and off road trails in forests, deserts, hills & mountains, fishing (that’s safe to eat) all within a couple hour’s drive from the bay area.