Rent price : 200$/month for a 1000sqft apartment.
Bangalore is often called the silicon valley of India, filled with software professionals.
Majority of the city's inhabitants are migrants from other parts of the country and almost everyone communicates in English.
The living expenses for a couple is not more than 600-700$/month including rent for a decent lifestyle.
The city has a good pub culture and mostly urban population.
The weather almost throughout the year is pleasant 25-30 degree C and light rains for around 4-5 months.
Ample available Shared co-working spaces filled with emerging software startups.
Although I would also like to point out some cons:
As an American, you might find the chaos of an Indian city overwhelming for some time. There are people literally everywhere and all common use services(taxi service, public transportation, laundry services, cafes, restaurants) are usually exhausted to the brim.
Sorry but $200/month for 1000sqft? Thats not in Bangalore, or just a shitty place. Any place in bangalore thats not upscale but good amenities nearby, its easily $400 with Maintenance for a decent 2BHK in an apartment.
$700 is just not gonna happen for an couple with rent, and you are talking about an American with a different food habit. More like $1000.
Horrible traffic, non-existent public transport, water scarcity, pollution and dust are just cherry on top.
The only good thing about Banglore is that it has a very big tech community. But the wages are really low compared to the west. Traffic is just terrible. Sometimes it may take you 1 2 hours even to cover 1 KM. Its overpopulated and has too much pollution. Night life is nowehere close compared to SFO and so is the intellectual community. Again nothing to justify to move all over from SFO.
I have been living in Bangalore for 5 years and this is completely exaggerated opinion.
- In no situation it will take 2 hours for a km unless there is a natural disaster period.
- Bangalore is one of lesser polluted cities in India. Pollution index is mostly green. SFO is much better though in terms of particulate matter index.
- Nightlife, i haven't experienced in SFO so will not comment.
You can justify a move from SFO to BLR if you want a multitude cheaper place to live without losing out too much on the tech community. I live an above average lifestyle for less than 500$.
It's nowhere exaggerated. What part of Banglore do you live in? Try traveling in Bellandur at around 5 - 6 PM and see by yourselves. In most places it's almost impossible to predict whether you can cover as low as 10km - 15km even if you have 2 hours to spare[1]. Banglore is over populated with people everywhere. You should travel to west for a vactaion so that you know how bad a place is Banglore compared to western cities. It changed my persepctive when I did that. I also used to think Banglore was a place to settle. Not anymore.
Pollution masks are almost a necessity if you are in Banglore and care about your lungs[2]. There are traffic everywhere. Also have you seen Bellandur and other lakes of Banglore recently? Bellandur lake is the most polluted lake in India[3]. I dont even want to start on water scarcity.
> You can justify a move from SFO to BLR if you want a multitude cheaper place to live without losing out too much on the tech community.
He would be also be making an order of magnitude less. After working for some years and going back to US he would be having peanuts as savings. The tech community is also not anywhere good as SFO. What you see in SFO today you can expect to see in Banglore after a few years rebranded in a diffrent name.
And the nightlife and quality of life is just terrible when you compare to SFO. I don't understand why will anyone who is on their senses will move to Banglore from SFO.
How does a non-Indian English speaker go about hunting for an apartment lease in Bangalore? Especially short-term leases. This is the biggest bottleneck for me.
Leases are typically 11 months long (apartments). If you need options shorter than that, you should either find a cheap hotels, or Airbnb before settle on a longer-term option.
Visit for at least a week before taking any decision about Bangalore. Unless you like chaos and Indian food, there nothing much here which other places can't offer better
Bigger roads, much better infrastructure/subway system. We actually have close to 7-8 world class universities in the city (IITD, AIIMS, NSIT, DCE, IIITD, etc).
Delhi is overpopulated and is one of the most populated cities in the world. It's also not a safe city to begin with. And you would not be making anywhere close to what you make in SFO. There are good Universities when compared to other Indian universities but I don't think nobody calls Delhi an Intellectual city. Has nothing to justify moving from SFO unless you are a lot into Indian politics probably.
You can also consider NCR , India. It's the national captial region which includes Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida.
Pros. Internet - 1 Gbps internet at ~20$ a month
Lots of great colleges - IIT D, JNU, AIIMS, DCE Housing - You can get a 2500ft 3BHK high rise condo in gurgaon for ~800$/month. With that you'll get a jacuzzi, modular kitchen, round the clock security, pool , gym etc.
Labour is cheap - Maids which do cleaning, laundry and cooking cost ~150$/month. Drivers cost around 300 . You really don't have to do chores
Great food - Everything is app based anyway, so you can get good quality pasta/salad home delivered to your place at 3AM for less than 10 dollars.
Activities - you get go karting, mystery rooms, great dining places in both delhi in gurgaon, also an f1 track which has track days where you can drive your own car on the buddha circuit for cheap!
Good Roads - Unlike some cities in India, the NCR region is connected by highways since it's made up of multiple states. Though if you have got friends in another part of town, it can mean a commute of upto 70 kms. It has a population of 24 million.
Great quality weed - weed is virtually legal and will set you back by ~10$/quarter and concentrates for ~70$/q. Lots of microbreweries in gurgaon too.
Cons
Pollution - It can get a bit bad in winter, but you can install airpurifiers in your car and home to offset most of the effects.
Given the political, LGBT , and arts movements originate in Delhi and fan to the rest of India, I disagree with you. But I suppose you are entitled to your opinion.
It's one of the few places where pedestrian art markets are actually created - show me the equivalent of Dilli Haat, National Gallery of Modern Art anywhere else in India.
It would be interesting to hear you think that's true about the rest of India as well.
Market salaries for senior engineers in India are at valley level. The startup scene in India rivals only the Valley and I do not think any other country (including Europe ) comes close to the action here.
Most interestingly, as an expat you are not blocked from starting up. This is just the latest of a bunch of expats raising large venture money in India - https://yourstory.com/2018/09/how-a-chinese-entrepreneur-bui... . That in itself puts India miles ahead of locked down ecosystems in China, Europe and several other countries.
Medical care is dirt cheap. People travel to India from the US to get surgeries done which cost less than a day visit to a US clinic. Oh and the food ain't bad.
Absolutely, and aplenty! But be prepared to network/dig-in a little to find exactly what you want. We definitely have people :) and communities which are both technically and intellectually strong.
Rent price : 200$/month for a 1000sqft apartment. Bangalore is often called the silicon valley of India, filled with software professionals.
Majority of the city's inhabitants are migrants from other parts of the country and almost everyone communicates in English.
The living expenses for a couple is not more than 600-700$/month including rent for a decent lifestyle.
The city has a good pub culture and mostly urban population. The weather almost throughout the year is pleasant 25-30 degree C and light rains for around 4-5 months.
Ample available Shared co-working spaces filled with emerging software startups.
Although I would also like to point out some cons:
As an American, you might find the chaos of an Indian city overwhelming for some time. There are people literally everywhere and all common use services(taxi service, public transportation, laundry services, cafes, restaurants) are usually exhausted to the brim.
Traffic: Imagine NewYork in peak hours.