I'm Kievian who recently moved abroad. Kiev is cool as long as you don't interact with our corrupted government, justice and healthcare, as long as you don't work for the local market (which is undeveloped and lacks of money), as long as you move by uber/taxis/own car, not the local marshrutkas, etc. Kiev is cool if you have money. But only because the majority of people don't have it :-) For example, if you want to bootstrap your micropreneur venture or work remotely/freelancing, it's a choice. You're able to live like a king and spend less than 2000$/month. Yeah, the rent cost in the bay area = awesome life in the Western Europe.