[mathiaspoint]

If you're willing to be fiscally conservative, go to a cheaper location, and continue working on side projects you don't need the payout at all.

The question everyone seems to be asking is "is the payout worth spending the first ten years of your career in the West Coast startup scene." Ten years is quite a lot of time to spend somewhere you don't actually want to live.

[okdood64]

The converse(?) is also true; how easy is it to leave somewhere you've made roots (family, friends, community) in for a decade or two?