Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
I haven&#x27;t seen anyone specifically comment on Nashville so I figure I&#x27;ll chime in and give you my $.02.<p>I did my undergrad at Vanderbilt in Nashville, moved to Mountain View for two years to work at Google and moved back a year ago after realizing living in California didn&#x27;t work for me.<p>Pros:
- No state income tax in Tennessee
- Tons of stuff to do. There&#x27;s way more than just Honky Tonks and country music. Professional football and hockey teams and a decent minor league baseball team. People go to the symphony and see shows at TPAC regularly. The Frist usually has interesting art exhibits, as does Cheekwood (also a botanical garden). If you prefer to be outdoors, there are plenty of places to hike, climb, kayak, etc. It might not be quite as striking as Yosemite or Marin, but the nature here is still quite beautiful.
- Housing is cheap (relatively). A lot of people (short and long timers) have taken to complaining about housing prices recently, and to be fair they have gone up quite a bit from where they were. It&#x27;s not as cheap as Chattanooga or other smaller cities but it&#x27;s still _very_ affordable compared to California. I recently closed on a house just using money I saved from working in CA for my down payment.
- Growing tech scene. It&#x27;s really night and day even from when I graduated 3 years ago. Tons of meet ups and the community is really awesome. A growing number of companies - and the companies here tend to be more focused on actually growing a business instead of just hitting a valuation.
- Food. Awesome restaurant scene. Obviously more BBQ and Southern focused though.
- Friendly. People in Nashville are very friendly. I think this is immediately noticeable, but I enjoy having conversations with random people I run into. 
- Centrally located. They&#x27;ve added direct flights to the Bay Area recently, and you&#x27;re a day&#x27;s drive from a good chunk of the eastern half of the country (you can get to Chicago, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Orlando, or Buffalo within a day&#x27;s drive).<p>Cons:
- Davidson County schools aren&#x27;t great. Lots of people with kids live in other counties and commute in to get better schools. 
- Traffic. This isn&#x27;t as bad as other major metro areas, but depending on where you live it can be significant. 
- Not very walkable. There are a few areas that are walkable (12 South, Hillsboro, places in East Nashville) but you need a car. Public transit is pretty bad.<p>Neutral:
- More conservative state politics. Nashville is fairly liberal, but there&#x27;s definitely still a conservative bent at the state level. I put this in neutral because I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s all bad (remember, no state income tax) but you may end up getting upset about state legislation.
- Weather. Really hot summers. Winters aren&#x27;t too bad. Occasional snow, and it can actually get chilly. Lots of rain (compared to CA). I don&#x27;t think this is bad because I actually enjoy having seasons.
- Big healthcare focus (both small and large companies).<p>tl;dr - Nashville is awesome, and I&#x27;m really happy I moved back. It&#x27;s not as easy as the Bay Area to job hop, but I&#x27;m not worried about finding work when I do decide to make a jump.