I think a lot of what you are saying makes sense, but also at some age and family status (kids in schools etc) moving doesn't make sense any more, or has more downsides than one is trying to avoid.

Obviously one could have thought of this before marrying and putting kids in school in the town with one tech firm - but that doesn't make it any less a reality for a lot of people.

Saying "kids we have to move because dads colleagues refuse to do proper peer reviews" just doesn't taste right :)

> Obviously one could have thought of this before marrying and putting kids in school in the town with one tech firm

this was going to be my response, but then you said it yourself :)

The more intelligent and self-responsible act (which is hard, i know) would be to move to a better place before making extremely serious life choices such as marrying and having kids. same goes for partner finding - don't marry a crazy partner and then say 'I married a crazy partner and now we have 2 mutual children. i cannot leave, i am stuck with this crazy person who is also the parent of my children.'

and i know it is hard to find a non-'crazy' employer and a non-'crazy' partner- but this should be your goal and target, shouldn't it ?

also, you get better as time goes by, even if you don't want to (as long as you are a bit intelligent) - bad companies/life partners will present themselves as red-flags on an interview/date . and it is your responsibility to detect those red flags .

(edit: refactor the last paragraph)

I guess what I'm saying is that a) job market is only one factor in deciding on where to live. A partners job situation, access to other things in life, being close to family etc often weighs in, and is often even more important than other factors. Obviously after such a choice one shouldn't be whining about limited job market - but the point is that only improving things by leaving bad companies is not always the solution. For many it's important to be able to change bad culture as well.

aspect b) is that company environments change, and the fun startup can become a terrible enterprise in a decade.

I wouldn't advise against working in tech in small towns because of the risk of getting stuck in the only gig in town. I would however advise that it be factored into that career decision. One might need to fight to improve company culture, whereas in Silicon Valley one would instead take a job across the street. I'd also recommend keeping an active contact network and online profile so you can get remote work should it be necessary.

> If you are born in a 'bad' place (regardless of the reason for it being 'bad' - a violent/poor neighborhood, a city without hope for jobs, a small country-side town with no tech industry at all, etc. etc.) - you should be responsible for improving your life/moving to a better city/etc.

Most people born in bad places can't get out of them in large part because they're bad, since the effects of that propagate through. Why should the responsibility for a bad place, and subsequently improving it or getting out of it be placed on a person who wasn't the one to make it bad?

People who can get out of bad places are the lucky ones.