Very true. It's amusing to see people talk about "west coast wages" comparing favorably to wages in NYC. The reason top tech generally kept out of NYC until re

Very true. It's amusing to see people talk about "west coast wages" comparing favorably to wages in NYC. The reason top tech generally kept out of NYC until recently is that they had trouble competing against investment bank salaries. This only changed as top tech (especially FAANG) comp increased to catch up. The less charitable interpretation is that top tech found itself compelled to pay more and more due to the talent crunch, until after all the increases it finally caught up with average NYC pay. Now, since it already pays at NYC-competitive levels, it might as well open offices in NYC and enjoy the talent pool there.