When you work 12 to 15 hours a day, make a pretty good salary overall, and still have nothing to show for it other than, "I managed to rent a closet in SF"... yeah, the midwest is a FANTASTIC option.
It is hugely ironic that so many Silicon Valley companies are building solutions to enable exactly what they don't do - work from anywhere.
The Bay Area is a cool place to live. There is a lot to do there and a ton of resources. Seattle has it's merits too. Portland is experiencing the same flock of "hotness". After a while, the grind becomes greater than the "cool" and you soon realize that you're 12 hour day plus 2 hour traffic commute leaves you no time or energy to enjoy the city you live in anyway.