Anyway, I can't imagine anyone under 45 willingly living in "Silicon Valley"
In my experience, a large percentage of engineers of any age have suburban tendencies. There are way more "nerd's nerds" down in the valley. If you want to run into people who build robots as hobby projects, they will be at Menlo Park Techshop on the weekends, not at Dear Mom. (although I've heard these days that a lot of maker-hacker types live in Oakland)
In my experience, a large percentage of engineers of any age have suburban tendencies. There are way more "nerd's nerds" down in the valley. If you want to run into people who build robots as hobby projects, they will be at Menlo Park Techshop on the weekends, not at Dear Mom. (although I've heard these days that a lot of maker-hacker types live in Oakland)