> a booming economy This seems to be a bit of hyperbole; I disagree that the economic consensus is that the period of LC's existence has been an economic boom.

> a booming economy This seems to be a bit of hyperbole; I disagree that the economic consensus is that the period of LC's existence has been an economic boom. U.S. stock and housing prices indeed recovered from 2008 lows - real economic growth (jobs, industrial output, new home construction) has been tepid at best. The Bay Area may have been flooded with new jobs and investment, but the rest of the country certainly has not been.