I hope you enjoy your move to the Bay area. It's delightful.
And, if you want to get to know some people in the Hacker community, http://HackersandFounders.com gets together every couple of weeks. Let me know you're coming, and I'll buy you a beer. :)
I think that we all wish that we could get the YC sessions, but we actually have a lot of cool people show up to our meetups that you can talk with and learn from. I always have at least 3 or 4 great conversations that I learn from.
We have guys who're working on their 4th and 5th startups. We have guys attend who have exited and are looking for the next go around. We have startup owners that have been in business for several years.
A lot of guys are just starting out on their own, and are interested in feedback on their apps, or whatever they're working on. And, people generally buy pitchers of beer, so if you're broke, you don't have to worry about it. :)
My concern is good neighbourhood, is closed to tech events and of course has to be ramen-affordable too! I know it's possible to find the best of everything.
Personally I'm partial to the Mountain View/Palo Alto area. Not exactly ramen-affordable though. Sunnyvale/Santa Clara is cheaper, but it's all strip malls and tract housing.
> PG: can we _still_hang_out_ with you guys on meetup nights. I'm serious.
If they let anyone who wanted come, then it wouldn't be so exclusive and it would lose some of its value. I know I'd love to go to those meetups if I were in the area, and so would 423442342 other people.
PG: can we _still_hang_out_ with you guys on meetup nights. I'm serious.