This all may be true, but more opportunities that only existed on the West coast/bay area are presenting themselves all around the US. I was established in the

This all may be true, but more opportunities that only existed on the West coast/bay area are presenting themselves all around the US. I was established in the Seattle area, loved it for all of the reasons you describe, but decided to leave because cost of living has reached absurd levels. I moved to the Atlanta/Alpharetta market and live like a king here. It's not the Cascades or the Pacific ocean, but it's got its own charm that I love, cost of living is low and housing is surprisingly cheap. Well paid software engineers didn't exist in this region that long ago, so that's where I see all of this shifting- we now have more regional options if we want to do cutting-edge work where it used to just be the Bay area or NYC.