The weather in Atlanta, Houston, Austin, and Phoenix is brutally hot and/or humid and shows no sign of getting a cooler average.
It's difficult to do stuff outside when it's that hot, especially as you get older.
It's difficult to do stuff outside when it's that hot, especially as you get older.
This is the (not so?) subtle quality-of-life aspect that people seem to forget when mentioning other cities as alternatives.
The Bay Area isn't popular/expensive solely due to network effects. Climate and geography (nearness to ocean, mountains) make it comparitively more appealing than the alternatives, for a variety of ages and lifestyles.