Silicon Valley's Demise Has Been Postponed Again

Silicon Valley is totally over, right? I mean, it says so in the New York Times, which ran a much-discussed story last week headlined "Silicon Valley Is Over, Says Silicon Valley." And it says so here at Bloomberg View, where my fellow columnist Conor Sen opined last fall that "The Numbers Show Silicon Valley Is Already Fading," and I followed up a few days later with a column on how job growth had slowed sharply in the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas.

And why wouldn't Silicon Valley -- which I'm defining broadly here to encompass the entire San Francisco Bay Area -- be over? With housing supply constrained by an ocean, a bay, mudslide-prone hills and California's notoriously development-unfriendly politics and regulations; overcrowded highways; underwhelming public transportation; underfunded schools; persistent water shortages; some of the nation's highest income taxes; and reputedly some of the nation's most insufferable people, the area has become an increasingly difficult place to live and work. I mean, even billionaire Peter Thiel is moving away (to Los Angeles)! Why would anybody stay?