It isn't all that thinly veiled is it? Its a recruiting pitch, the message is: 'cost of living is lower', 'opportunities are plentiful', 'traffic is better', and 'there is hip culture here too'. It is targeted at folks who are working in the Bay area and hate the commute and high cost of living but feel trapped because it is the 'place to be.' The goal being to get those people to consider working outside the Bay Area.
The bottom line is that there are lots of places to work, they aren't all like the Bay Area but they don't have to be.
Austin dweller here -- I assure you the traffic is NOT better here. Ranked 8th worst in the nation.
> If you are not aligned with one of the fashionable templates, your mojo in the Valley can quickly whither.
I observed this at SXSW last year. It was Elevator Pitch Bingo, with every presentation being some combination of Social, Mobile, Coupon, Local, and "your friends". Very few of the pitches strayed outside that subset.
I've never gotten past the first red light out of Bergstrom without a 4 minute wait at 1am. I could go all the way from SFO to Ocean Beach without hitting a light 50% of the time.
SF applies computers and algorithms. Silicon Hills hasn't discovered them yet.
The bottom line is that there are lots of places to work, they aren't all like the Bay Area but they don't have to be.