[cpprototypes]

I think LA has a lot of special advantages that other regions don't have:

1) It has the same strong CA protection against non-competes as Bay Area.

2) Starting to develop some big and significant "anchor" tech companies such as Snapchat.

3) Surrounded by good universities (UCLA, USC, Caltech)

4) Main tech hubs are Santa Monica and DTLA. These will soon be connected by a new rail line (opening this month)

5) Housing is expensive, but not as bad as Bay Area. And rail line should greatly expand cheaper housing options while being able to work at a tech hub.

[kec]

Well, devils advocate: 2, 3 and 5 are all true for Boston and have been for years. Massachusetts does allow noncompetes, but at least anecdotally no one I know in the Boston tech/startup scene has been required to sign one.

[donretag]

Is there a tech hub in DTLA? I cannot think of a single company.

There are companies in Pasadena, Glendale, Burbank, Hollywood (all combined are still less than the westside), but DTLA seems to have nothing of note.

[xenihn]

Soylent is the only company I can think of, though I'm not sure if they count.

In fact the only reason I bring it up is because it's marketed towards developers, and the founder/CEO is (was?) a full-stack Python developer.

[dmode]

Also, significantly closer to Bay Area than other tech hubs. With a gazillion flights between the region

[RangerScience]

Also, weather. And arguably affordable housing - you can at least trade commute for housing, if you want to live ~20-30m south of the 10.

[x0x0]

And by affordable, you mean look how far your million dollars can go!

I kid (kind of...)