[scottm01]

Obviously only you can decide. My vote is no, not if you make an effort to stay involved and to network at least somewhat. I live in San Francisco, having moved here a bit over 3 years ago from the east coast (working in Manhattan, living across the river in NJ). Before that I was in central Virginia.

I love the bay area and enjoy how easy it is to stay connected and up to date, but it's definitely a tech bubble disconnected from how the rest of the world works sometimes. Housing is crazy expensive due in large part to demand, terrible policy, and a weird west coast "I got mine" attitude that's so pervasive among voters.

The bay area is right for my wife and I right now -- we are near extended family, we enjoy being able to walk everywhere, we are easy day trips away from amazing outdoor activities (world class scuba diving and hiking, skiing until the drought finishes it off, etc). We put up with the crazy real estate market because we have to (and I'm fortunate enough to work for a tech company).

I would not move here solely for the tech ecosystem unless I was trying to start and sell a company, though I would probably consider northern California (or the pacfic NW) in general for other reasons regardless.