Most people prefer a mansion, a giant salary, etc. But doesn't mean they get it.
The problem is that if you want to be at the interesting end of IT you probably need to be somewhere with a decent population (1m+ , maybe closer to 3m+) to have multiple employer options. You might also want to be in a largish place for cultural options (rock concerts, professional sports teams, varied cuisine, minority hobbies, whatever).
Trouble is that big places have various combinations of traffic, high house prices, long commutes etc. So suddenly the nice house in the suburbs you can afford is a 60 minute drive to work and on the weekend you spend all day in your car driving the kids (until aged 16) from place to place.
The problem is that if you want to be at the interesting end of IT you probably need to be somewhere with a decent population (1m+ , maybe closer to 3m+) to have multiple employer options. You might also want to be in a largish place for cultural options (rock concerts, professional sports teams, varied cuisine, minority hobbies, whatever).
Trouble is that big places have various combinations of traffic, high house prices, long commutes etc. So suddenly the nice house in the suburbs you can afford is a 60 minute drive to work and on the weekend you spend all day in your car driving the kids (until aged 16) from place to place.