It may not be as crazy as it sounds at first. Per documentaries, that was why the Silicon Valley came to be. Land was cheap, so Shockley (specifically avoiding the old centers of industry) set up shop there, and the rest is history.
That's skipping the substantial part where Terman establishes Stanford's engineering department, brings in massive government funding, and encourages students to commercialize the research.
Yes, certainly not to say Shockley was all alone in establishing in the Bay Area- but without him, would it be called the Silicon Valley? :)
perhaps shockley would have actually preferred if it were called 'germanium valley' :)