&gt;Working in SF and commuting in from Oakland for example will enable you to change jobs more frequently without uprooting your life.<p>So, in that example, anywhere outside of SF in the South Bay isn&#x27;t an option. Beyond highly concentrated cities like Manhattan where there&#x27;s a huge confluence of jobs in a particular industry, job mobility causes issues in any case (especially once the jobs of partners and kids&#x27; schools are involved) in any case. It&#x27;s rare industries and location where you can generally change jobs without commute being a factor.