Those places have trade-offs, just like anywhere else. For example, the Midwest is a very nice place to live, but the winters here are absolutely awful and we also tend to have at least a month in the summer where it's also extremely hot. The job market for tech is decent, but it's not nearly as lucrative as the coastal markets, although the low cost of living does make up for that to a degree. These things matter a lot for some people, even if not so much for you.

As much as a lot of non-SV folks, myself included, enjoy ragging on California, the nice weather and good job prospects make it a very desirable place to live, and as such makes people far more tolerant of the hilariously awful housing situation and political climate.

I'm not sure what part of that contradicts what I said. The OP said there are too many people and no places to live. That's not the same as "the weather isn't as nice in the cheaper places, I'm painted in to a corner"

> There are lots of cheap places to live in the US that are still very nice

For example?

> you just don't want to live there.

Obviously, it's not just me. If lots of people wanted to live in these supposed cheap, nice places they'd all be moving there instead of norcal.

> If lots of people wanted to live in these supposed cheap...

It doesn't have to be "lots of people", just the executives that build and lease office buildings and set remote work policies.

Most people could be ambivalent-to-averse to living in the Bay Area but if the high paying and attractive (1) jobs are there, they'll end up moving there anyway.

(1) That is, jobs working for companies who consider technology a competitive advantage, not an expense.

> If lots of people wanted to live in these supposed cheap, nice places they'd all be moving there instead of norcal.

There are over 300 million people in the US. What is this generalization supposed to mean? Try to look past extrapolating the 20 mile radius you live in to the entire country.

There are nice, cheap places all over NorCal, but the expensive part is where the jobs are. Fort Bragg and Redding are absolutely gorgeous but they do not have a dense tech job market.

Fort Bragg and Redding are cold and foggy much of the time. Silicon Valley is in an ideal location. There are low-lying hills that keep the fog away, but it still gets enough ocean influence that it doesn't get too hot.

> Fort Bragg and Redding are cold and foggy much of the time

Fort Bragg is on the coast, and Redding is inland - they have wildly different climates. Redding is pretty damn hot, actually, and supposedly very sunny:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redding,_California#Climate

The politics are probably not something most SF people would like, though (nor I, really).

There are a ton of beautiful places around there, though, and in southern Oregon as well. The oak/madrone/pine forests in that area are extremely beautiful in my opinion.

Sorry, I somehow got Redding confused with Eureka.

Yes, Redding is uncomfortably hot.

In fact, that's generally true: everything inland is hot, and everything on the coast is cold. In between there's a narrow strip that is "just right". SV just happens to be in this sweet spot.