As an SF Bay Area resident since 2009, there's no better place if you want a career in tech.
Yes, you can still have a great career outside of SF but it's a lot easier here.
I have lived and worked in 4 US cities and the best engineers are here. The selection of good jobs is immense. If you are a decent engineer, you have so many choices.
From what I've read in this topic and elsewhere, the cost of living is very high.
I'd rather not live in a city with as much of a chance of an earthquake as SF has. Living in a known disaster area just seems kinda off...
Then there's just personal preference.
I live in a city of less that 200K, and I find it to be larger than I like. The other day I hit stop and go traffic in a larger city, and found myself wondering why anyone would subject themselves to that on a regular basis. Or subject themselves to crowded mass transit systems, those crowds are a big part of why I use my car instead in my city.
As an SF Bay Area resident since 2009, there's no better place if you want a career in tech.
Yes, you can still have a great career outside of SF but it's a lot easier here.
I have lived and worked in 4 US cities and the best engineers are here. The selection of good jobs is immense. If you are a decent engineer, you have so many choices.