I don't know that I've seen it attempted before.
More generally, I think this is a very interesting development. As developers move into the cloud, staying in places like silicon valley requires a burn that might not be necessary.
Verrry interesting.
I think the key bit in tptacek's comment is, "not for any amount we've seen spent to date". You probably could buy a startup scene. But not for a laughable $500k. Both pg and Brad Feld have written on such. The gist, from memory, is that it'd take a whole lot more money and a couple decades.
Having a community of entrepreneurs around, however, has been a struggle. I started an all night programming group that meets once a month (meetup.com/allnightlong) and a social network for entrepreneurs (startlouis.com) that have helped address the community problem, scratching my own itch. Funding environment is getting better here, too. But it's far from perfect.