[joeblau]

A little over a year ago, I moved out to San Francisco from D.C. because I knew this was the hotbed of innovation and start-ups. Before moving here, I had no prior knowledge of any of the culture or neighborhoods (beyond a little about the Mission) but after being a resident of this city for a little over a year I love it. The people I've met since I've been here are some of the smartest people I've associated with; the food is better than any city I've lived in, the people are friendly, and I feel like I can have intellectual discussions with like minded people that understand my passions.

One thing I do struggle with is making this a permanent home. I feel like right now, people are coming here (as I did) because frankly, this is where the money is. Even Y-Combinator advertises that if they invest in your company; They want you to move here and encourage you to stay here.

> If we invest in you, your group is expected to move to the Bay Area for January through March 2013. (You can of course leave afterward if you want, but it's a good place for a startup to be.)

I'm curious to see what happens when/if the bubble pops. Will people stay or will they go back home? For people that have been here 15+ years, could you shed some insight into what happend in between 1999 and 2003 as the last influx of innovation left the area? I feel like those were the years when giants such as Apple, Yahoo, Google, Sales Force, and Mozilla were essentially minted.