Possible Move To Mountain View: Male to Female Ratio? (San Jose: 2013, construction)

[MTCLARE]

Hello,

I am 42 years old and making a good salary in the south for a big company. I interview with Google soon
and I have serious reservations about accepting an offer for the following reason: I am single and would like to immerse myself in a pool of potential mates. From what I have read about San Jose these odds are dismal. I think I will frankly be very depressed if I move somewhere where there is one below average woman for every 50 men and she's already taken 4 times over. Can someone please enlighten me as to the real situation there? (I'm in the South now, and I don't fear for my social life here). Some additional insights, this is where I live now:
https://www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...ale-ratio.html

Thank you.

[Azmordean]

Personally I think the whole "Man Jose" thing is somewhat overstated. Technology is increasingly diverse and tech companies, especially larger ones, now have large numbers of women working for them. Engineering still skews somewhat male (though that is improving), but tech companies also need HR, Sales/BD, Finance, and any manner of other disciplines that are equal or even female dominated.

In my own team (my role is a mix of legal and technical), which is 6 strong, there are 4 women, including our boss, and 2 men (including myself). Most meetings I am in are 50/50.

Walking the streets I don't see a dearth of females either.

Let's put it this way. In terms of raw numbers there are probably more men here than women. But you need to keep in mind several things:

1. The gay population here is probably somewhat larger than average - especially in and near SF - so not all of those men are seeking women.

2. Many people are focused on careers, are introverted, or are otherwise nor prioritizing dating right now. I myself am in the latter category - I'm not actively avoiding dating, but I'm focusing on other things as a priority before I "jump back in" head first :P.

Bottom line: if you're a nice, reasonably well adjusted dude, and you put some time into dating, I don't think the ratios will impact you all that much. I actually think the pervasive suburban culture in the Valley is much more an impediment to dating than ratios are.

The other thing to keep in mind is Google has offices in a lot of places (including SoCal). So if you end up not caring for it here, you could potentially move to a role somewhere else. Personally, if it's a career improving opportunity you are excited about, I'd do it. Of course, I moved here from another area that's bad for dudes (DC area) - so yeah .

[MTCLARE]

Thank you Azmordean.. This possible job might be tied to the Mountain View office, so I'm not sure if the other offices would apply for me. I also gave some thought to living in SF, but I don't see giving up 2-3 hours a day on a commute.

Possibly I'll live in the South Bay then go out on the weekends in SF, seems to be the best option, if this whole thing works out.

But where I am now (Atlanta) it is nice that I can go out and see quality women on a random and regular basis, and I am loathe to give that up.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by MTCLARE

Possibly I'll live in the South Bay then go out on the weekends in SF, seems to be the best option, if this whole thing works out.

But where I am now (Atlanta) it is nice that I can go out and see quality women on a random and regular basis, and I am loathe to give that up.

If you got game, you'll be fine ANYWHERE, even in Antartica. If you're a lazy bastard who looks for easy women, then yes, South Bay is not the place for that. The ladies herein general not not a bunch of desperate airheads Even in SF, you still got your work cut out for you.

Got game, will travel. That's all I gotta say.

Personally I think the whole "Man Jose" thing is somewhat overstated.

I'm totally down with this "Man Jose" thing. You think there are no women in the South Bay? Good, that just means less competition for me down here HUZZAH!!!

[sonarrat]

Some people called the last economic downturn the "mancession," because male-dominated industries like construction and skilled labor got hit the hardest. Females were much less effected especially here in the Bay Area.. though there is still a notable difference in pay scales by gender, as bad as the bad old days.

In fact, if you look on the City-Data profile, the sex ratio is very nearly 50/50.. and the ratio stays nearly identical on the bay side in cities as different as San Jose, San Francisco, Mountain View.. but it goes more female-heavy as you get into the East Bay.

[bobby_guz_man]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

but it goes more female-heavy as you get into the East Bay.

This has been my experience as well

[MTCLARE]

Thanks for the thoughts. I guess its up to the interview now to make my decision.

[ilkhd2]

Bay Area women, although may be "overbooked" are well educated and interesting, so if you are into Berkeley graduates etc. this is the right place; better to have tight competition for something you like than to have abundance of people you have no common ground with.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by MTCLARE

Possibly I'll live in the South Bay then go out on the weekends in SF, seems to be the best option, if this whole thing works out.

Everyone always moves here with this illusion. They go to SF the first few weekends, then the reality of long commutes, traffic, work schedules and all else quickly makes the SF excursions less and less frequent until you practically never go up there.

anyway, downtown mountain view has a decent enough nightlife. It's a big draw for people from all over the south bay. I have friends who go there from San Jose on weekends.

There are lots of young women in the area, as to whether they are "taken" or single, I don't know, but I tend to see a lot of women by themselves or within groups with their girlfriends, so I am likely to think they are single.

On the other hand, you go work at computer companies around here and it's almost entirely a male workforce, so .....

Another thing to keep in mind is there's a lot of foreign women around here who would probably be very keen to find someone for green card purposes.

[marcopolo666]

Tech is not the majority (over 50%) employer in Silicon Valley - service industries (probably) are. You shouldn't be worried because tech is 80% male - 80% of 10% is 8%, 80% of 15% is 12%, etc.

If you want to find an intelligent woman who shares (some of) your interests, then you get involved in clubs that highlight said interest(s) : hiking, biking, gardening, book clubs, ...

Also, take 'extension' (adult learning) classes that interest you : cooking, arts, poetry, language, painting, ...