As someone who works for a start-up and tries to hire in MA, our biggest issue for innovation is a lack of people.  Hiring is extremely hard here due to lack of applicants. The cost of living in the area is relatively high (only about 20% less than SF) and the winter weather is too cold for most people.   Thankfully, Boston isn&#x27;t as opposed to building as SF, so lots of new apartments are coming on the market every year.  Hopefully that will drive down rents, or at least justify the high rents with nicer apartments.  I&#x27;m not sure what to tell people about the weather, though.