I think people forget that until very recently, San Francisco was actually rather fond of its tech industry. It was viewed as a creative, slightly quirky, and generally positive culture that fit right in.
Tech is actually a pretty good industry to have around. Supposedly tech jobs create wealth and, as a result, stimulate more non-tech job creation around it. The problem isn't necessarily tech, it's too much of a good thing[1]
There's also a secondary issue, which is that pacific northwestern cities have a middle-to-recent history of not really wanting Californians around, so you might be getting a more negative response from Portland or Seattle to "silicon valley moving north" than you would from Baltimore or St Louis. An occupational poll I read recently suggests that the computer industry is still looked on positively [2].
Overall, though? If this just means that tech is finally spreading out a bit, so that people can earn a programmer salary in SF (about 114k according to US news best jobs) in a place where this means they can now buy a house, raise a family, and stimulate the local economy (and perhaps an anemic housing market), I see this as a good thing.
[1] Perhaps. There is an argument to be made that tech culture has gotten much uglier with the amount of money that poured in. Also, we spend a lot of time and mathematical talent getting people to click on ads now.
[2] http://www.gallup.com/poll/156713/americans-rate-computer-in...