I chose what I wanted out of life, and moved to a place that had the most of that (great food, good weather, reasonable cost of living and a growing startup ecosystem). I lived in SV for a few years (2007-2009). It was great. I live in Portland now, and it's better in many ways (lifestyle, cost of living, ability to get out of the city) but it's def not the startup hub that is SV. On the other hand, you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond here, vs. SV, where you're swimming with sharks. Both have place, but, for me, moving away was a good choice.