[dustinupdyke]

One could certainly build a corollary statement to read, "tight housing markets limit worker options". I mean, seriously, how many people are limited by location based restraints to pursue the career of their dreams?

This is 2015. Some of us would have thought that by now, location would be a factor mitigated by technology.

[harimau]

Just a guess but the majority of companies in the US still depend on people showing up. Our work culture doesn't change that much (and has gotten worse in terms of some things [pensions, benefits, etc.]) even if it would make far more sense for people to work from home. Also, despite it being 2015, and the richest country in the world, our spread of broadband is pretty limited though growing. I think Google Fiber and similar companies will help alleviate this in the future.

Not everywhere is 'cutting edge', in terms of resources and managerial ideas, so it helps to think outside the SF bubble. I used to have to spend 2.5 hrs in traffic despite working for a 'tech company' just b/c the boss (late thirties) wanted it that way. And there's not much arguing with the person that cuts the check.

[brandonmenc]

> location would be a factor mitigated by technology

Do you want to be surrounded by people on the cutting edge of tech? They all congregate in one or a few places, and you have to move where they are to reap the benefits of community.

People will always seek to associate in meatspace, regardless of society's tech level.

[wpietri]

Having lived in SF 15 years, I think that advantage is steadily declining.

When I moved here, people came here because this was the place where all the interesting technology happened. It was hard to keep up. But now, the number one reason to move here isn't the technology. It's access to capital.

Since Bubble 1.0, the Internet has become an excellent distributor of technology. But VCs still aren't interested in getting on planes.

[kilbuz]

I recently moved to SF from a large Midwestern city. I don't know what things used to be like here, but I would say number of job opportunities here compared to where I moved from are somewhere between 20x and 50x. Maybe that's confounded by the access to capital.

Not to mention living here is nice for many other reasons.

[wpietri]

Well, the competition is higher, and a lot of the jobs available right now are not funded by revenue, they're funded by investment. So I think the current picture is misleading.

It is a swell place to live, though. But even that advantage has declined a fair bit. 20 years ago, a lot of places in the midwest were cultural deserts. Books, movies, magazine, ideas: all severely restricted. The Internet has changed that. And San Francisco is rapidly losing the diversity of culture that was a big draw for me.