I think the counterpoint is an interesting one: SF is an expensive place to live, and I've never been a fan of California's politics (an opinion, obviously). Meanwhile, Texas is a beautiful state with millions of people, half a dozen top notch universities, relatively low taxes and a definitively cheaper cost of living (outside of Austin proper).
I'm sure SF is nice, and I've love to visit... but there are more places to work than just there. I also find it interesting that geography plays such an important part in the startup culture when we're all sitting infront of multi-megabyte connections capable of HD video and chat.
I have great personal affinity for Texas but am having trouble coming up with a list of half a dozen top notch universities. I can come up with three (UT, TAMU, Rice) and a few more if you set the bar a bit lower, but none of the these (arguably Rice) is in the league of Stanford, Berkeley, and Caltech, and only the first three are in the same league as UCLA, UCD, UCSD, UCI and USC. Even UCSB and UCSC are good.
Perhaps what I'm trying to say is that as wonderful as Texas is, if you're interested in universities it is sadly lacking. (I mostly know about math departments, so if I'm really wrong about either state, I would like to know.)
I think the counterpoint is an interesting one: SF is an expensive place to live, and I've never been a fan of California's politics (an opinion, obviously). Meanwhile, Texas is a beautiful state with millions of people, half a dozen top notch universities, relatively low taxes and a definitively cheaper cost of living (outside of Austin proper).
I'm sure SF is nice, and I've love to visit... but there are more places to work than just there. I also find it interesting that geography plays such an important part in the startup culture when we're all sitting infront of multi-megabyte connections capable of HD video and chat.