Actually I think the better argument is for the tech-companies to support remote work, so that they stop importing wealthy home-needers. I think it's a really good part of a solution to this problem.
To make remote work work, you need a culture where in-crowds and promotions and ladders don't matter (they'll always exist, but some companies give them more weight) and where people are pretty much assured that, even if they never get another title bump-- because those things happen less when you're not in-person-- they'll continue to get work that they're happy with.
I don't know if the last sentence in your first paragraph was advice for Googlers or portable but I'd advise literally everyone to avoid traffic at every possible opportunity... though as I get older I'm much more 'ambitious' about happiness than title bumps, so YMMV.