LA coders may actually be taking on a greater risk when they join a startup. SV programmers (even "old" one with families) see so much opportunity in the startup scene that they aren't concerned about the availability of jobs should the startup tank. In many ways, they gain career stability through cutting edge work and the wide network they can build through startups. In LA, maybe the critical mass just isn't there (or at least not to the same degree)? LA coders may just be reponding to different risk/rewards.
Yes! As an 'old' programmer with a family, I thought long and hard before leaving a stable job and joining a startup. In the end I decided that it was worth it even if I had to find a new job in two years and ended up somewhere that just 'paid the bills'.
In my limited experience, it seems like finding a good startup job in LA depends a lot on your network - e.g. you worked with so-and-so here and they're doing something new and think of you, where my perception of SF/SV is that awesome startup jobs are so plentiful you can't help but have one.
