That's profoundly sad to me though. Concentrating all of the technological revolution's talent and wealth in a few cities will have bad effects on the rest of the country.
There are smaller cities that are called one-company towns. One university, one army base, one large manufacturing plant. That is the largest and most prominent employer in the region. If that one thing goes away, the town will suffer. Remote workers are different because they can hedge that risk. So with more remote work, eventually, perhaps we'll start seeing new patterns emerge, it could revitalize some areas. If there is more talent gathering, a positive feedback loop might start...
Edit: To add, tax incentive structure can be important. Some states do a lot better in that regard. There are even special deals arranged like "If you move your headquarters here, you'll pay lower taxes" or something similar.
While I occasionally visit SF I always get a good chuckle when my friend that lives there talks about how expensive things are and the pains of living there.
CoL might be N-300% higher in SF but salaries (thank wage-fixing companies) are not. Salaries are (necessarily higher) but it's easy to dwarf the spread in normal, requisite expenditures.
CA has a high state income tax, relatively higher sales tax (than most midwest areas), and in the case of SF, the oh-so-obvious (self-inflicted) real estate problem.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/21/ultra-high-net-worth...