I'm about to graduate from college and I know I want to be in a tech center and I've interned in silicon valley before but I'm a southern boy at heart.
I have been in Austin for 13 months now. The market for all dev languages appears really good, if you take into account the amount of people hiring at local user groups and all the recruiter emails that I get. There are also one or more tech events on most nights of the week, so networking is super easy and the events are fun.
You mentioned being a Southern boy; I am from Chicago and I would say that it does not feel like a "southern" town here, so keep that in mind. It is urban, don't be fooled by the "Texas" thing.
Anyway, people are real friendly, tech jobs appear plentiful, and there is a very good nightlife. The housing is expensive for Texas, but probably not compared to other states. The "no income tax" thing helps, as well.
If the poster is worried about California's "budget crisis & high unemployment" in particular, Texas isn't a great alternative, since it has even higher unemployment, and about the same $25 billion budget deficit.
While you may be correct about the budget deficit of Texas (there is some confusion since they budget on 2 year cycles), the unemployment rate there is most definitely not higher than California. A quick google search shows 7.9% for TX and 12% for CA as of October.
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At least have a look at Austin, Texas.
Texas isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the startup scene down there is starting to look very interesting.
Texas has been creating over half of all net new jobs over the last few years. It's actually making it through the recession quite well.
What's it like there do you have any experience?
I'm about to graduate from college and I know I want to be in a tech center and I've interned in silicon valley before but I'm a southern boy at heart.
I have been in Austin for 13 months now. The market for all dev languages appears really good, if you take into account the amount of people hiring at local user groups and all the recruiter emails that I get. There are also one or more tech events on most nights of the week, so networking is super easy and the events are fun.
You mentioned being a Southern boy; I am from Chicago and I would say that it does not feel like a "southern" town here, so keep that in mind. It is urban, don't be fooled by the "Texas" thing.
Anyway, people are real friendly, tech jobs appear plentiful, and there is a very good nightlife. The housing is expensive for Texas, but probably not compared to other states. The "no income tax" thing helps, as well.
Thanks and I'm from Atlanta so while I'm decidedly southern I also like to have a city to be in.
If the poster is worried about California's "budget crisis & high unemployment" in particular, Texas isn't a great alternative, since it has even higher unemployment, and about the same $25 billion budget deficit.
While you may be correct about the budget deficit of Texas (there is some confusion since they budget on 2 year cycles), the unemployment rate there is most definitely not higher than California. A quick google search shows 7.9% for TX and 12% for CA as of October.
Ah yeah, apologies; I was remembering poverty-rate statistics rather than unemployment-rate statistics.