I don’t think anyone has mentioned Oxford, UK yet? It’s tiny. You could literally live on a farm here and still be 5-10 minutes from the city centre. And obviously it’s a realistic place for a rationalist hub. I haven’t perceived anti-tech sentiment here but haven’t paid attention either.
I’d guess it’s not easy to change the land use for a farm and that it would be expensive and slow to build a campus in or near Oxford. It’s probably easier to move into an existing “campus” (e.g. for a school, training center, residential conference facility).
Immigration-wise: It will harder for EU people to move to the UK going forward but (AFAICT) easier for people from the Canada, US, Australia and elsewhere. The UK now has a points system for skilled workers (you need a job offer) and a special visa (don’t need a job offer) for people in academia research and “digital technology” (which covers fintech, gaming, cybersecurity and AI among other areas).
Immigration issues aside, I second the choice of the United Kingdom. Having lived in several European countries, the UK probably has one of the strongest intellectual cultures I’ve seen. The population is roughly that of California and Texas combined, and yet its combined cultural and scientific outputs is on par with the US as a whole (it has received the second largest number of Nobel prizes in the world, and in terms of Nobel prizes per capita it outperforms the US by a factor ~2).
However, I would say that Oxford wouldn’t be my first choice:
Most great things about Oxford are behind the walls of the colleges—if you are not a member of the university, you feel quite cut off from the intellectual life there. (Even as a member of the university, things are only active during term times, which are much shorter than elsewhere)
Living outside Oxford and commuting in is a pain—the roads are always clogged, even for buses. Commuting by train is possibly only from a few places.
I would recommend living near London:
London is a really fun city. Whatever your interests might be, it is quite likely that you will find groups with the same interests as you. Also the food scene is amazing—you could probably find both great restaurants and grocery shops specializing in any cuisine you want.
Public transport is pretty great, much better than what I have seen in e.g. NY. It is common to live >1 hr outside the city and commute in, so there are lots of places in the countryside which are affordable but with a direct train to central London.
The job market is very active, and it shouldn’t be a problem for two people to find a job here.
The Oxford/London nexus seems like a nice combination. It’s 38min by train between the two, plus getting to the stations (which in London can be a pain).
Re intellectual life “behind the walls of the colleges”: I haven’t perceived much intellectual life in my college, and much more outside. Maybe the part inside the colleges is for undergraduates?
I don’t have experience with long-range commuting into Oxford. But you can commute in 10-15 minutes by bike from the surrounding villages like Botley / Headington.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Oxford, UK yet? It’s tiny. You could literally live on a farm here and still be 5-10 minutes from the city centre. And obviously it’s a realistic place for a rationalist hub. I haven’t perceived anti-tech sentiment here but haven’t paid attention either.
I’d guess it’s not easy to change the land use for a farm and that it would be expensive and slow to build a campus in or near Oxford. It’s probably easier to move into an existing “campus” (e.g. for a school, training center, residential conference facility).
Immigration-wise: It will harder for EU people to move to the UK going forward but (AFAICT) easier for people from the Canada, US, Australia and elsewhere. The UK now has a points system for skilled workers (you need a job offer) and a special visa (don’t need a job offer) for people in academia research and “digital technology” (which covers fintech, gaming, cybersecurity and AI among other areas).
Immigration issues aside, I second the choice of the United Kingdom. Having lived in several European countries, the UK probably has one of the strongest intellectual cultures I’ve seen. The population is roughly that of California and Texas combined, and yet its combined cultural and scientific outputs is on par with the US as a whole (it has received the second largest number of Nobel prizes in the world, and in terms of Nobel prizes per capita it outperforms the US by a factor ~2).
However, I would say that Oxford wouldn’t be my first choice:
Most great things about Oxford are behind the walls of the colleges—if you are not a member of the university, you feel quite cut off from the intellectual life there. (Even as a member of the university, things are only active during term times, which are much shorter than elsewhere)
Living outside Oxford and commuting in is a pain—the roads are always clogged, even for buses. Commuting by train is possibly only from a few places.
I would recommend living near London:
London is a really fun city. Whatever your interests might be, it is quite likely that you will find groups with the same interests as you. Also the food scene is amazing—you could probably find both great restaurants and grocery shops specializing in any cuisine you want.
Public transport is pretty great, much better than what I have seen in e.g. NY. It is common to live >1 hr outside the city and commute in, so there are lots of places in the countryside which are affordable but with a direct train to central London.
The job market is very active, and it shouldn’t be a problem for two people to find a job here.
Some reactions:
The Oxford/London nexus seems like a nice combination. It’s 38min by train between the two, plus getting to the stations (which in London can be a pain).
Re intellectual life “behind the walls of the colleges”: I haven’t perceived much intellectual life in my college, and much more outside. Maybe the part inside the colleges is for undergraduates?
I don’t have experience with long-range commuting into Oxford. But you can commute in 10-15 minutes by bike from the surrounding villages like Botley / Headington.
+1 to everything Jacob said about living near London, plus the advantages of being near an existing AI safety hub (DeepMind, FHI, etc).
Or just outside London...