Eh, I'm contrasting San Francisco, above, with the South Bay; both are "bay area" (conventionally, the south bay is "silicon valley" - historically, San Francisco is not "silicon valley" though that definition seems to move every bubble.)

In the South Bay, I largely don't have cultural fit problems, and I can pretty easily score pretty good jobs at second and third-tier companies (getting jobs at top-tier companies is a real challenge, still, but considering the compensation and prestige at the end of that particular tunnel, I can see why.)

In San Francisco, though, I quite often have 'cultural fit' issues, and often can't even get into startups that pay really poorly.