• Mike Manalac has worked in the tech hubs of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Chicago since 2016.
• He says each place has its strengths, but Chicago is the best place for raising a family.
• Chicago offers Manalac and his family the perfect balance career, affordability, and family life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mike Manalac, a 39-year-old accounting manager at Google. It’s been edited for length and clarity.

Over the past eight years, I’ve worked in the tech scenes of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Chicago. The three places couldn’t be more different in terms of lifestyle, and they’ve each appealed to me for different reasons.

Here’s how the three places compare:

San Francisco is fun but not for the faint of heart

I moved to San Francisco in 2016 to pursue world-class career opportunities and adventure. I’d spent the past eight years as an audit manager in Baltimore and the cross-country move was a big change for me.

As someone with ambitious career goals, San Francisco was the mecca of opportunity, so I joined PwC to get closer to Bay Area tech jobs. Some of the world’s most innovative companies were basically next door, and their corporate headquarters lined the city’s blocks like Lego bricks.

I once interviewed at Salesforce’s headquarters while on my lunch break since it was only a few blocks away from PwC. When doing phone screens for Uber, Twitter, and Dolby, I knew I’d be able to walk over to their offices for an on-site interview at a moment’s notice.

As a young professional with limited life responsibilities, San Francisco turned out to be the perfect place to live fast and loose. The social scene was amazing — a night out for drinks could mean stopping by a speakeasy with no sign, sipping a mai tai on a floating tiki bar, or drinks served from a bathtub at a bar the size of a walk-in closet.

San Francisco also has the best park scene in the country; I’ve yet to find a better party than a regular Saturday afternoon at Dolores Park.

It’s also a walkable city. For the first time in my adult life, I was car-free. The city was full of trendy coffee shops, unique bars and restaurants, and charming neighborhoods to explore.

But living in San Francisco also isn’t for the faint of heart. Outside of coworkers, my then-fiancée (and now wife) and I found it incredibly challenging to make friends; everyone seemed to assign others a level of importance based on where they lived and worked. I also would’ve needed an absurd amount of wealth to purchase a home and raise a family there.

I felt that the city’s biggest blemish, though, was the seedy Tenderloin district, which sits smack dab in the middle of downtown. I had to walk through the neighborhood to catch a corporate shuttle bus to work, and I saw my fair share of sketchy characters and shady dealings at the time.

Silicon Valley’s career opportunities were unmatched

Later that year, I started working in Silicon Valley after I joined Walmart’s eCommerce division in San Bruno. And the following year, I landed a job as an accounting manager at Google’s Sunnyvale campus.

Silicon Valley offers the coolest places to work and its career opportunities are unmatched. I was amazed by the sprawling corporate campuses. Walking through Facebook’s invite-only campus, which is like a walled garden city, and down its main street, Hacker Way, I was in awe. In nearby Mountain View, I couldn’t believe how nearly every building in the city was branded with Google’s logo.

I saw corporate buses and colorful bikes whizzing around and young professionals with corporate badges on their hips and branded backpacks on their backs.

While Silicon Valley may be the tech capital of the world, I’d never live there. For one thing, I couldn’t afford it; the cookie-cutter neighborhoods of Silicon Valley are reserved for millionaires and the hillside mansions for billionaires. I, on the other hand, commuted from San Francisco via corporate shuttle bus.

But I wouldn’t have wanted to live there anyway. The social scene was dead, the city wasn’t walkable, and the nightlife was nonexistent. Nobody I knew went to happy hour after work, restaurants closed early, and most people only lived there because of the proximity to work.

Chicago has a down-to-earth social scene and affordable, family-friendly neighborhoods

I moved to Chicago with my wife in 2019, transferring to Google’s Chicago office. The cost of living in Chicago was much cheaper, my commute would be shorter, and we’d be closer to her family in Michigan and mine in Maryland.

Chicago doesn’t have the buzzy tech scene or beautiful weather of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, but it’s no slouch when it comes to career opportunities. More Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Chicago than in almost every other city in the US, and the job opportunities are much more diverse than what you’ll find in the tech-centric San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

From Google’s office in Chicago’s West Loop, I can see McDonald’s global headquarters down the street and a number of other premier employers dotting the city skyline.

Chicago is a city that likes to party, making San Francisco look sleepy by comparison. Bars don’t close until 2 a.m., with some staying open until 4 a.m. Chicago’s Lake Michigan beach scene is much livelier than that of San Francisco. But the social scene also has a down-to-earth vibe; people are Midwest nice and seem to live at a more casual pace.

The best part about Chicago is the moderate cost of living. I was able to afford a three-unit home with rental potential in Chicago for $830,000 — a price I’d never find in San Francisco — that’s in a walkable neighborhood. It’s the perfect blend of family-friendly city life. Our three-year-old son loves taking the train home from daycare and running wild at one of the city’s many playgrounds.

I think Chicago is the best of the three places to start a family

After working in these three awesome places, I’ve realized that even the best cities have their flaws.

San Francisco has the coolest social scene and overall vibe, but it’s one of the worst cities for settling down because of its high costs.

Silicon Valley offers the best career opportunities, but its social scene is lacking since everything there is about work, work, work.

Chicago is the best of the three locations to start a family due to its affordability and comfortable pace of life, but it’s not quite as cool as San Francisco and can’t match the career opportunities offered in Silicon Valley.

Overall, though, it’s hard to beat Chicago’s mix of career opportunities, vibrant social scene, and opportunities to start a family.

If you’ve moved around for work and would like to share your experiences of different cities, email Jane Zhang at janezhang@businessinsider.com.

Mayor Mike Johnston is confused. 

Denver’s mayor wants to stand athwart the city’s boundaries to stop people from leaving. His problem is he’s focused on the wrong people. 

Apparently seeking to bolster his progressive bona-fides, Mayor Mike recently staged a public hissy fit about the incoming Trump administration’s plan to deport illegal immigrants. In a bizarre rant he had to walk back, he said he would deploy the already understaffed Denver Police Department to stop federal immigration agents. 

If his goal was to get national attention as a pro-illegal immigrant warrior, it worked. 

Badly. 

He managed to shine the spotlight on the widespread failures of Colorado’s capital city to reverse its decline. He also reminded citizens the massive influx of migrants has stretched the municipal and school district budgets beyond the breaking point. 

Quickly realizing he was over his skis, he said well maybe citizens would rise up and he would lead the resistance.

Resist what? 

Deporting the 1.3 million illegals for whom the federal government, under President Joe Biden, has already issued final orders of removal? Or fighting the departure of the minority of migrants who commit crimes?

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It would be nice if Mayor Mike had as much passion to resist — and reverse — the steady decay of the city he was elected to lead. 

Mike Johnston’s problem isn’t preventing illegals from leaving. It’s bringing back workers, diners and shoppers who have already left — and aren’t eager to return.

A study by the Common Sense Institute (CSI) looked at downtown Denver’s recovery from the pandemic.

What will not surprise anyone who has been downtown recently — Denver has the lowest foot traffic of 16 major cities studied by the University of Toronto. One reason is Denver has the highest office vacancy rate among Front Range cities, with one-quarter of offices sitting empty — and, oddly, the highest office lease rates. 

And worse, the state of Denver’s downtown also discourages people who do not live or work in the city from venturing out for an evening. 

This is what makes Johnston’s assertion he would deploy Denver cops to stop the deportation of illegals even more out of touch. Crime in Denver is sky high and that’s where the mayor needs to focus his police force. 

The CSI study showed there were 1,150 crimes in the third quarter of 2024, the highest of any third quarter since before the pandemic. This tracks with a Downtown Denver Partnership survey, which CSI cites, that says a major issue afflicting downtown is a lack of a sense of safety and security. 

As disturbing as these facts are, downtown’s decline wasn’t caused by the pandemic. COVID merely hastened and deepened it.  

Those of us who worked downtown pre-pandemic experienced the rise in homelessness, vagrancy, drug use, aggressive panhandling and more. 

Years before the pandemic struck, a leader in the business community told me about how he was excited to show off Denver as a destination for meetings and conventions. He said he was going to bus site selectors from the convention center Hilton at 15th and California to Guard and Grace restaurant at 18th and California. 

Driving them three blocks?

“Well I can’t take the chance of having them walk and encounter who knows what by the 16th Street Mall,” he said. 

The city then was so bad it had to hide the dysfunction on display downtown — like hanging a picture in a weird place in your living room to cover a gaping hole in the wall. 

Wouldn’t something that bad be a wake-up call for the city?

The elected leaders hit snooze. 

Others, like the Downtown Denver Partnership, have sincerely fought to reverse the continually rising tide of decay. But there is only so much one organization can do.

Denver, like too many American cities governed by naïve progressives, has been rendered unworthy of good people who want to live, work and play in Colorado’s capital city.  

Decades ago, Denver Mayor Frederico Peña challenged citizens to “imagine a great city.” Now people who make a great city thrive are rejecting downtown in droves because they can’t even imagine a decent city anymore. 

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.

The Jets (3-8) are back in action as they come off the bye week to host the Seahawks (6-5) in Week 13 of the NFL season.

Despite having the past week off, things only got worse for Gang Green, with rumors circulating of Aaron Rodgers wanting to play next year but not for the Jets, and owner Woody Johnson reportedly ready to bench the four-time NFL MVP all the way back on Sept. 30 following the team’s loss to the Broncos in Week 4 being talked out of the idea by the front office.

With the dysfunction seemingly at an all-time high around the organization that has already fired its head coach and general manager in season, the Jets have to find a way to take positives over the final six games down the stretch.

In come the Seahawks, who are currently atop the NFC West following back-to-back division wins over the 49ers and Cardinals.

It’s a revenge game for Seahawks QB Geno Smith, who was drafted by the Jets in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft and spent the first four years of his career in the Meadowlands before heading to the Giants and Chargers for a couple years until he found a permanent home in the Pacific Northwest and became the full-time starter for the franchise in 2022.

Our prognosticators throughout the season are: Art Stapleton (Giants/NFL writer, NorthJersey.com), Bert Bainbridge (sports betting analyst/columnist, NorthJersey.com), Steve Edelson (columnist, APP.com), Vince Mercogliano (Rangers/NHL columnist, lohud.com), Brian Marron (digital producer, NorthJersey.com), Chris Iseman (Rutgers writer, NorthJersey.com), Bob Jordan (sports editor, Asbury Park Press/APP.com), and Dave Rivera (sports editor, USA TODAY Northeast/NorthJersey.com).

Here are our staff standings going into Week 13:

Bob Jordan: 8-3

Bert Bainbridge and Brian Marron: 6-5

Steve Edelson: 5-5

Vincent Mercogliano: 4-5

Art Stapleton and Dave Rivera: 4-7

Chris Iseman: 3-7

Here are our staff predictions for Jets vs. Seahawks in Week 13 on Sunday from MetLife Stadium:

Bert Bainbridge

The pick: Seahawks 24, Jets 17

Here’s why: Even though the Jets come out of this one fresh off of a bye week, it still won’t be enough to get the job done as Smith stays undefeated (3-0) against the team that drafted him with Seattle staying in the dogfight that is the NFC West while Gang Green continues to move closer to a fifth consecutive double digit loss season.

Art Stapleton

The pick: Seahawks 23, Jets 20

Here’s why: Seattle hit a lull last month, but Geno Smith is sparking their resurgence again. The Seahawks have another former Jet (and Giant) who played really well last week in Leonard Williams, and they can take a big step forward in the NFC West race with a victory here. With all the talk about Aaron Rodgers’ future, the facts are these: he has not played well this season and there are no signs of his old MVP form. The eventual Hall of Famer just looks old.

Chris Iseman

The pick: Seahawks 27, Jets 10

Here’s why: It’s unfortunate for Jets fans that the team’s back from its bye week. It was probably a welcome break from having to endure the dumpster fire. But I’m sure things will be much better from this point going forward. Right?

Bob Jordan

The pick: Seahawks 21, Jets 7

Here’s why: Troubling trend: The Jets have been yielding 45-ish rushing yards in the first quarters of their recent games.

Brian Marron

The pick: Seahawks 27, Jets 21

Here’s why: In a game Seattle needs to stay in pole position for a playoff berth, expect the Seahawks to have no issues scoring on the Jets’ porous defense.

Dave Rivera

The pick: Seahawks 23, Jets 20

Here’s why: Would Jets fans rather have Geno Smith over Aaron Rodgers right now? Geno shows his former team that good things are ahead for his Seahawks as they look to capture the NFC West title. Meanwhile, the season continues to get longer for the Jets.

BetMGM is the premier destination for sportsbook odds throughout the year.

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