enjoylife

Portland, OR, Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA, Berkeley, CA, and Oakland, CA.

andrews98682

You will have trouble living on 35,000 in any major city -- especially New York, San Fran, Boston, etc. -- no matter how good the public transportation is. And if your company is in the suburbs, you'll need a car. You really need to think about this.

artlover

S.F., Seattle, and Berkeley are great cities for young people to live and have decent public transportation. Suze is right about S.F. being very expensive to live. I don't know about the other places though.

Dreamer2

Maybe it's 35,000 pounds?
That would help a bit.

You could probably rent in a Boston suberb such as Malden or Medford and commute in.

Dreamer2

And it could be a base salary for a sales position...
Raindrop may just be conservative and not want to count on the extra?

Cher

Well, "hotbed" for pharma = Philadelphia/New Jersey. To some extent Boston, NYC, WashingtonDC, some west coast cites (SanDiego, SF) a little in Seattle, Austin and RaleighNC. The best city for a multitude of opportunties in pharma is Philadelphia area - there is some public transportation, but it won't get you everywhere, so your options are limited without a car. From the original choices you listed I would pick Boston and SanFran - but again many of the pharma companies may not be accessible by public transport (i.e., out in the burbs) - and these are incredibly expensive places to live, as is NYC. (Philadelphia is more manageable financially.)

concernedposter

Author: raindrop
Date: 11/28/2004, 03:08 pm

Hi,
I am considering taking a post-doctoral position at the Rockefeller Univeristy in NY. Unfortunately this type of position only pays about 40 000 per year (before taxes, and without medical/dental insurance). I am a single young woman who would love to live in New York, but only if I could be in a safe neighbourhood. I also need to start paying back student loans/line of credit (about $600 a month). Is this doable?
Kate

bardo1

concernedposter,

Even with a $40K salary, you can live in any NYC neighborhood you choose.

The real questions are:

How many roommates are you willing to have?

In how small a space?

Can you live without an elevator?

AC?

etc.

suze

I can see 35,000 being an entry level salary here. In Seattle, renting a small apartment in a decent hip neighborhood near downtown, and commuting by bus or walking, is completely feasible.

enzian

Seattle is known as a hot place for biotech companies:
http://www.pan.ci.seattle.wa.us/tda/...ry/biotech.htm

Some of these are on the Eastside, but Amgen is right downtown, and the Hutch is nearby.

All the postdoc fellows I have met seem to be doing OK on their salaries. Public transportation in the downtown area is very good. There is also a "shared car" program that works well if you occasionally need a car.

beachbum

You're missing the point bardo1. Concernedposter is pointing out that two years ago, raindrop, the OP, asked about taking a post-doctoral position for $40K, and now is considering a $35K job. With a doctorate??? Yeah... I agree, concernedposter. Somethin' ain't right here.

JJ5

I know of a guy over 50 exactly in that field, did research for years at about $75,000 per and has been out of work for 2 years.

I know U.of I. grads in this arena; find definite work or in a related field and then locate.

JJ5

Probably was replaced by two raindrops.

happytrailstoyou

I believe Portland, Oregon, has only been mentioned once, so I'll mention it again--Portland, OR.

Seattle is problomatic if you need to cross Lake Washington on I-90 or Highway 520.

Fodorite018

HTTY--Yes, Portland is a great place to live, but it definitely is not a hotbed for the biotech industry. A couple companies, but not like other locations.

bbqboy

You gotta' consider the fun aspects of a young proessional coming to the states. I still say the
Bay Area is the only choice.

Gekko

While I love San Francisco, the Bay Area pales in comparison to New York City!

New York is the center of the universe, of course, and an amazing place for young professionals to live and experience the entire world.

Now, I don't want to start some East Coast/West Coast thing here, but the obvious must be stated, for the record if for no other reason.

raindrop

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions!

I am looking for a postdoc, and prefer to look in the cities I mentioned because they contain prestigious univerisities or research institutions with big-name people in my field. I would like something in a biotech/pharma hotbed to ease the transition after my postdoc ends.

By the way, having an advanced degree does not guarantee a high salary. People earning doctorates in the biological sciences must then take on low-paying (34 000-42 000) postdoctoral positions for several years if they want a job in academia or industry, after which they can hope to recieve 50 000-60 000 at there first industry job.

nytraveler

Jobs in acedemia and industry are 2 completely different things.

Granted academia doesn;t pay well- that's why in additiona to teaching academics have to do research projects - and I know getting grants can be very difficult.

However, in industry the situation is completely different. PharmDs are hired at $80,000 plus to start, salespeople with a BS can easily earn $100,000 plus and marketing people (with a BA) with a year or 2 experience get $75,000 or $80,000. So - don;t know where your info is coming from - but I know real people (in the NY, NJ, CT and PA) area who are getting this money. In fact, I'm the one hiring some of these people - and I can tell you how difficult it is to get good candidates for these jobs.

Now - if you have a very specific field of interest that means you must work in academics - or a very small start up company - perhaps that makes a difference. But I've worked with many majors as clients - Pfizer, Bayer, Merck, Roche, Squibb et al - and $35,000 simply isn;t what they pay.

concernedposter

Especially to people who were making $45,000 two years ago.