After living in SF (after insisting that's where I needed to transfer to during college and spend the rest of my life) for over 5 years, I'm finally able to say that I'm pretty over it. The high cost of living (and everything) combined with type of accommodations I have to settle for, in addition to horrible traffic and creature comforts you can have in other cities made more difficult (also the inability to ever save, in particular for a house)....I'm leaving the Bay Area as of September. I always warn people now who want to move here...have a very well paying job lined up and ideally a bf/gf to live with or else it's going to a big reduction in quality of life.
Moving to Seattle...still a pricey city, but nothing like here. And basically has all of the things I love about the Bay Area just on a smaller scale. I strongly considered Austin or Portland. I'll always love big cities, but I think I have a much more realistic idea of what it means to live in a global alpha city than I did before I moved here to experience it. For example, I have now ZERO desire to ever live in NYC unless I'm pulling in $300,000+. To me, it' just not worth it at 28. I want a more well-rounded, comfortable life with a bit more space yet access to urban amenities.
Priorities you think will never change, definitely do for so many of us
