Sure, but my point is that the magnets in the Bay Area are the folk who control the corporate coffers, those multi-billion-dollar treasuries that can determine

Sure, but my point is that the magnets in the Bay Area are the folk who control the corporate coffers, those multi-billion-dollar treasuries that can determine whether you make $1-2M/year or $150K/year. As long as being geographically close to them gives you a much better shot at making multi-millions a year, people will move back. The junior engineers are moving to Vegas because it's close and cheap and right now nobody's advancing quickly in anything, so it doesn't matter. They'll all snap back (or be replaced by other people who do) as soon as the next technology wave starts.