After having lived on the coast for a while, I can say that people are not on average that much smarter or hard working there than in a number of other places.

After having lived on the coast for a while, I can say that people are not on average that much smarter or hard working there than in a number of other places. They might be a little bit, but that's because of the "brain drain to the coasts" phenomenon rather than anything intrinsic. I can summarize the advantage of the coasts in three words: Access. To. Capital. Social networking effects come in a close (and related) second. Tech companies are in Silicon Valley because tech companies are in Silicon Valley.