I lived in KS & MO for a total of 20 years. I'd say that worrying about tornadoes in KC is a bit like worrying about earthquakes in the Bay Area. Outsiders think, "Oh, my goodness!" but people who live there just do what little (very little) they need to, to deal with it, and mostly don't worry about it.
Nonetheless, weather is an issue. KC does not have a mild climate. Late summer can get very hot. Cold, windy winter days can be miserable. Ice storms can cause power outages. Most of the year, it's fine, but these do happen, and should be taken into account.
I will admit, in one house with close to zero insulation and very large windows, having finally purchased an electric blanket for about 2 weeks out of the winter - but never turned on the central heat.
Certainly a change from the Cariboo Interior in British Columbia, let me tell you...
Weather events in KC don't just make the news; they take lives. Flooding, ice/snow, wind, lightning, tornados, heat waves, cold spells. You name it, KC deals with it.
It can seem like there's always something to deal with everywhere, but the midwest gets the crap knocked out of it from the weather. It is not mild in the least.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/08/startups-would-you-c...
Still, if you do end up committing to move there, I'd love to hear about your experience.
Also forces salaries lower, competitors can't hire you away. If you are skilled, you're better off in a state like California. Paid more money, and you aren't handcuffed to your job. Look what facebook did to Google's talent pool or Zynga did to EA's.
I am not from the US, but where I come from noncompetes are enforced, but are very expensive (by law) for the companies so they are not used that often.
There's even worse things out there for employees. I've read about ownership of all ideas/work clauses including outside of work hours while employed and enforced in a court of law. Imagine doing a startup nights and weekends only having it taken from you.
As for IP stuff, that's really a case by case basis with each companies contract and how reasonable the claim that special resources and information made available by the employer were behind the development of the ip. If you're working for Starbucks and patent an algorithm for targeted advertising than no way in hell. But if you work for Garmin and develop a method to improve GPS reception in small devices, you're probably screwed.
And most of that stuff is pretty standard across the country.
Now I'm here in SF and paying double the rent for a place half the size of my place in KC, seeing something like this is very intriguing. Especially since I'm trying to bootstrap my own startup and feeling a bit lost in a sea of Silicon Valley startups!