Depends what the discussion is about. For someone deciding whether or not to move to the Bay Area, stock price appreciation should be excluded because you can't predict the future and if you could you'd be just as well off putting your cash into FB stock without working for them. For someone discussing the causes of Bay Area housing unaffordability it's very relevant, because having several thousand people earning a million a year who are all trying to buy up limited housing stock is going to seriously affect prices.

This discussion thread seems to be a mix of both, so...YMMV.