I agree with you on being able to find the same quality of talent outside of the Bay Area. When I hire, I don’t even restrict myself to the same timezone. Some of the best people I have worked with live in Europe.
California is aggressive in going after people who leave the state, even years later, especially if you have a liquidity event shortly thereafter and/or plan to maintain ties to California. Keeping an address, coming back regularly to meet clients, etc. are all precisely the things the FTB uses to argue that people are still California residents.
During the cold war, Ronald Reagan correctly pointed out that one of the clearest indicators the Soviet Union and their allies were in the clutches of a failing ethos, was that they had to build walls to keep their own people in rather than to keep their enemies out.
If you're going to leave California, leave. Don't keep a California address, tell clients you're based in California, come back all the time to do business, etc.
I just feel uneasy leaving most of my professional network behind. Sometimes even the most trivial social interactions end up turning into very lucrative opportunities.
If you have to be deceptive about where you are living because you think it's the only or primary validator of your value to clients (in terms of $ rate), it's not a good thing.
I know multiple freelancers and consultants who left places like the Bay Area and NY and their clients didn't suddenly seek to reduce their rates because they went to lower COL locations.
It's a dangerous thing for your rate to be based on your location and not the value you provide.
Renting a virtual address in NY or SF is not the same thing as telling your clients you're based in those locations or have teams there.
Pretending you're based in a place you're not is not only deceptive, it's a great way to find yourself dealing with painful tax and legal issues you don't want.