If I could simply decide to live anywhere, and have some guarantee that my job opportunities and salary would remain the same as if I were in the Bay Area? So many choices!

If I limited myself to the US, any state with zero state income tax, cheap land/housing, and mild winters would work. I lived in Florida for over a decade and would go back in a heartbeat if the job situation matched the Bay Area. A big suburban house near Las Vegas would be fine. Texas doesn’t seem bad either—lots of land!