I met many developers at StrangeLoop that looked to be in their 50s and 60s. And they live in the area. What makes St. Louis so special that older software engineers choose to live there?

OP. I'm originally from the midwest but we'd like to stay in California for now. I'll keep you in mind, though.

Well, there is your problem. This is the "why you might not even do a phone interview" issue. Off to the reject pile you go.

Put yourself in our shoes, and see how similar the frustration is: Why are you rejecting us? We hire people older than you, we have interesting work, the finances probably work out better... but you reject us.

If at some point you decide to evacuate California, we'll still be around: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17912861

The main reason is we have 4 kids living in the Bay Area and my wife doesn't want to move away from them.

Fine, take them with you. Can they code too?

His kids are probably adults by now and the reasons his wife won't move away is because of grandkids that are already there or expected soon.