Q: Well if there is a place outside India which is like Bangalore, where is it?
A: California
Atleast this is what I heard all my life. First is there are lot of Indians and second the weather is just like how Bangalore was 20 years ago. You can stay vegetarian unlike other countries where you secretly turn non veg and hide from your family. If you are a software engineer in India, it is most likely that your company headquarters is here. Almost every house in Bangalore exports one family member here and their parents proudly book their tickets for summer a year in advance to visit for pleasure or child care.
Living in San Francisco has been exhilarating. For someone who was always warded, this was quite a change. Here are some strange facts about the city of San Francisco.
1. The city of San Francisco is just 7 square miles covered by water on 3 sides. The land down south is called Bay Area which includes cities like Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, San Jose. Every city has a downtown which is like a happening place. Living in downtown is way different than living in suburbs. Downtown is where you see people around, has cafes, shops, restaurants, can live without a car. Suburbs are residential, you don't see people on roads, families with kids live and you just can't live without car.
2. Its cosmopolitan. Nobody cares who you are, where you are from or what you do. You are another San Franciscan as long as you are here.
3. The roads are hilly. By hilly i don't mean a few ups and downs. I mean elevations of upto 1000 ft which only means you are gasping for breath to take your next step.
4. The city is crowded. Yes, second most populated in US density wise after NYC. But still less crowded than Bangalore.
5. Well population comes with its baggage: Traffic. It takes 30 min to travel 3 miles as opposed to 5 min elsewhere. And we thought traffic is limited to Bangalore.
6. In a country which is fighting obesity problems, its a stark contrast that people are crazy about fitness. You see people running on streets at all times. Be it early morning, evening or even during lunch break.
7. Cycling or biking as they call it here is popular. There are dedicated bike lane on most roads. Bikes takes you faster than cars at times.
8. You better be tech savvy here. You need these things to survive in that order: oxygen, food, sleep, phone. Everything has an app. You know when your bus/train schedules, food menu, rentals and every damn thing. The sad part is if I am lost, I cannot ask 'dude, how to go to this address'.
9. You see tourists everywhere. Hell this is one of the attraction in this country.
10. The city is filled with restaurants. I read somewhere that even if the entire city dines out, there will be enough place to fit them all.
11. This country fancies doing things different than other countries. They use miles, gallons, pounds, Fahrenheit for measurement. The switch turns 'off' when turned 'on' (like how we turn it on)
12. Rents are super expensive here. Most of us pay almost 1 paycheck towards rent. Not just rent, if you live in city even a pack of chocolate (its called candy here) costs more in city than in other places. State taxes are second highest in the nation after NY and also there are sales taxes. So mind you expenditure.
13. There are plenty of places to explore close by. You have beach, mountain, snow all in the same state.
So, to answer the question, I haven't felt a huge change and it might be California.
A: California
Atleast this is what I heard all my life. First is there are lot of Indians and second the weather is just like how Bangalore was 20 years ago. You can stay vegetarian unlike other countries where you secretly turn non veg and hide from your family. If you are a software engineer in India, it is most likely that your company headquarters is here. Almost every house in Bangalore exports one family member here and their parents proudly book their tickets for summer a year in advance to visit for pleasure or child care.
Living in San Francisco has been exhilarating. For someone who was always warded, this was quite a change. Here are some strange facts about the city of San Francisco.
1. The city of San Francisco is just 7 square miles covered by water on 3 sides. The land down south is called Bay Area which includes cities like Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, San Jose. Every city has a downtown which is like a happening place. Living in downtown is way different than living in suburbs. Downtown is where you see people around, has cafes, shops, restaurants, can live without a car. Suburbs are residential, you don't see people on roads, families with kids live and you just can't live without car.
2. Its cosmopolitan. Nobody cares who you are, where you are from or what you do. You are another San Franciscan as long as you are here.
3. The roads are hilly. By hilly i don't mean a few ups and downs. I mean elevations of upto 1000 ft which only means you are gasping for breath to take your next step.
4. The city is crowded. Yes, second most populated in US density wise after NYC. But still less crowded than Bangalore.
5. Well population comes with its baggage: Traffic. It takes 30 min to travel 3 miles as opposed to 5 min elsewhere. And we thought traffic is limited to Bangalore.
6. In a country which is fighting obesity problems, its a stark contrast that people are crazy about fitness. You see people running on streets at all times. Be it early morning, evening or even during lunch break.
7. Cycling or biking as they call it here is popular. There are dedicated bike lane on most roads. Bikes takes you faster than cars at times.
8. You better be tech savvy here. You need these things to survive in that order: oxygen, food, sleep, phone. Everything has an app. You know when your bus/train schedules, food menu, rentals and every damn thing. The sad part is if I am lost, I cannot ask 'dude, how to go to this address'.
9. You see tourists everywhere. Hell this is one of the attraction in this country.
10. The city is filled with restaurants. I read somewhere that even if the entire city dines out, there will be enough place to fit them all.
11. This country fancies doing things different than other countries. They use miles, gallons, pounds, Fahrenheit for measurement. The switch turns 'off' when turned 'on' (like how we turn it on)
12. Rents are super expensive here. Most of us pay almost 1 paycheck towards rent. Not just rent, if you live in city even a pack of chocolate (its called candy here) costs more in city than in other places. State taxes are second highest in the nation after NY and also there are sales taxes. So mind you expenditure.
13. There are plenty of places to explore close by. You have beach, mountain, snow all in the same state.
So, to answer the question, I haven't felt a huge change and it might be California.
