Affordable housing isn't far away, but yes, in-Boulder rates are getting much worse. I work out of the Boulder office and have a 4BR house a 25 minute commute away for a lot less than I'd spend in CA.
There is no way that's true. I looked at numbeo.com and it says Sunnyvale rents are 60% higher than boulder. Insert your favourite Silicon Valley suburb in place of Sunnyvale.