I think everyone should live on the West Coast (ideally SF) or the East Coast (ideally near NYC) for a while in their life. Or both, like I did.
In Moscow a humorous proverb exists: "There is no life outside MKAD(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Ring_Road)
When I read PG (and others) about "there is no opportunity for [startups ... interesting productive life] except SF" - I think it's the same. Not true
And I suppose that this is possible.
But: There is "life outside MKAD"
Even with: "Around half of Russian economy lives in Moscow region, formally or informally" - I remember that 75% of all money in Moscow