My point is what if that was due to the inertia of the eastern US having more population, being close to necessary waterways for transportation, and certain natural resource stores.

We have the internet and cheap transportation now, so people (with resources) can more easily move to where they want to live.

I can conceive a future where even if tech were somehow displaced, then other people with money would come to silicon valley, simply because they want to and they're not tied to another location, like richer people may have been during Detroit's heyday.