International travel is actually one of the advantages of many of the high cost areas, including the bay area and NYC. One or more major airports with lots of international connections is a big advantage. There are a few cheap metros that have that too (mostly the bigger ones, of course), but not many.

> I don't actually know many people who think that access to Bay Area amenities is the highest and best use of a tech salary.

A lot of things are kind of hidden, they don't become an issue until they're gone. People may not think about the bay area weather or crime rate very much until they're pondering a move to Chicago or Detroit. They may not think about the bay area's cultural diversity or educational opportunities until they're considering moving to a small city in Nebraska. People take the things they already have for granted.

For example, I basically took for granted many American/west coast/bay area-n advantages before I moved to Munich and lost them: amazing restaurant scene (especially Asian/Mexican food), business hours are generally convenient, online selection of goods (especially Amazon) very strong, electronics relatively cheap, robust nerd culture, etc.