magazines july 2020

kidding lol

so my hometown is silicon valley / san francisco bay area but i grew up in san jose specifically . my knowledge focuses in the south bay (towards santa cruz , i can talk some about there too if youd like) but the general culture is the same everywhere & its a very interesting locale 2 talk abt so here we go

1 . so san jose is the most ... socio-economically "poor" area but even then , san jose specifically is nearly on every "top 10 highest rent in the US lists . growing up here and realizing this as i came to age was very crazy especially since i always thought people had no idea where san jose was . realizing not only my privilege but how cramped and unfriendly it is here as i grew up , i wondered for a long long time why people wanted to move here so badly

for perspective , the house i grew up in was bought for 200k in the mid 90s , and sold for $1.33 mil (lurkers pls dont think this is a lot of money bcos after taxes & leftover mortgage u dont come out w much lmao) . it was a 70-130k house (at BEST) in the middle of the country . you can gawk in private at the cost of living , i personally get really annoyed when people remind me of it because its like beating a dead horse . truthfully however it is a priceless investment into your career if you are in STEM , as this area is the biggest tech hub in the US / world (?) , and i am so incredibly privileged to have grown up here let alone in upper-middle class (which doesnt even offer you nearly as much as you could get elsewhere lmao ) . the buying a house thing is what i dont understand lmao , very ballsy to start a family here if you ask me especially since the value will just depreciate ; nice work if you can get it i guess

2 . random anecdotes from living here :

- i grew up 8-10 mins away from netflix HQ , 20 min from apple HQ , etc

- when i still used facebook , i got an e-mail one day asking me to come in for a research group , and i went to their HQ to do it and got a $75 visa giftcard . i signed in at their lobby via my facebook account . they asked me what i thought about changing colors / customization options in the messenger app , and like a month later that was implemented !! its crazy to think that i was helping in that decision

- i have a friend who works for apple , and her boss works directly for tim cook . you get a lot of interesting anectodes about this area when you live here for 20+ years lol . im sure theres more to talk about but i cant think of anything rn

3 . caucasians are the minority , so again coming of age & seeing so much racism in the rest of the US was kind of jarring for me . i very much pride my hometown in being so diverse & open to opportunity for the best and brightest TM minds of the world to come here & make great changes in tech & beyond , albeit more and more places across the country are becoming less caucasian-majority so while this is less novel its still kind of exciting to me lol

4 . subsequently most people that live here didnt grow up here ; its a Huge transplant area and because of rapid gentrification , a lot of native bay area residents are struggling to stay here & it creates this very stressful and angry culture on top of the already competitive nature of the area

5 . to add to that , it is a very angry and stressful area to live in ; strangers arent looking out for you , and they dont want to talk to you . i think this is because its such a huge transplant area creating a a "clash of cultures" type of deal where everyone just stays in their lane as a defense mechanism but truthfully , the pressure to deal with the costs of living here + work culture on top of the former are probably in combination of why everyone is so ANGRY lol


i feel like im lowkey doxxing myself but this is all part of a closed chapter in my life so ig thats why im so detailed in my post . wowo i wrote a LOT



a brief overview on santa cruz bcoz that somehow got popular in the last few yrs (though ik there are users that actually live in that area that could probably make addenums to this if they happen 2 see this):


1 . santa cruz is the main "silicon valley beach town" (surprisingly , a lot of california doesnt have a lot of beach access , and this is one of the few areas that does ) . as a result , locals HATE silicon valley visitors lmao . if u move to santa cruz from the valley boy ppl are Not gonna like u , theyre a very tight - knit hippy dippy beach bummy bunch , and they are genuinely cool ppl & wanna preserve their beach culture from the rapidly growing silicon valley that is the total opposite so honestly , i get it

2 . theres a boardwalk with rides and stuff thats fun & a lil wharf , ive made some fantastic memories there but tbh its just as crowded from the crowdedness of the bay venturing into the beach so over the years its gotten less fun which is kind of sad lol . there are more random beaches to venture to up and down highway 1 away from santa cruz tho & i would reccomend those before anything else to tourists

3 . its actually a very dangerous town bcos of their medicine problem & at night it is genuinely such a spooky and scary place lmao . i was driving with my friend around 11 at night and there were Two people "not entirely there" walking in the street like actual zombies in the fog , i will not forget that (not to dehumanize the serious issues that surround that kind of thing , this is just how i and probably anyone else would interpet that situation)

you also have to take a very windy dangerous forest road to get there and driving there at night in the fog is also sooo spooky but fun . i , a dumbass , have driven the alternative less-populated and more dangerous and deserted highway at the dead hours of night ALONE just for the thrill bcos o my god is it spOOky as hell

4 . i say that it got popular bcos the "santa cruz" logo hoodie has gotten popularized via skater culture / zumies , even though the town itself is much more surfer for obvious reasons and skaters are there but i wouldnt say there are a ton of them lmao . i see kids in the midwest and beyond wearing their logo stuff and im like "wow i bought my hoodie at a gift shop , now its international apparel ?? amazing "

tldr ; its a cool and magical beach town tho i think that is what i love about the silicon valley area the most