Totally disagree with this: the tech-job market is pretty damn robust in Denver/Boulder, Minneapolis, and St. Louis, to name three that I have some personal experience with. Not to mention Austin, Dallas, Kansas City, etc.
SF, NYC, and Boston aren't the only places you can get a job.
And conversely, the price of housing has doubled in most of those markets over the last few years (at least Denver, Austin, and DFW - the ones I have direct knowledge of)
It might be cheaper than NYC, SF, & Boston - but we're not pulling down 200k+ Salaries for Sr. Engineers here either, its all relative.
SF, NYC, and Boston aren't the only places you can get a job.