There's no need for someone to buy a few thousand acres and let people build structures. You could move to several 250,000+ population cities in the Midwest and there are already startup communities, incubators, and coworking spaces. I live in Omaha and went to school in Lincoln, NE. Omaha is getting gigabit internet soon from CenturyLink, Kansas City has Google Fiber. I worked at an incubator in Lincoln for the summer after my sophomore year in college and got the chance to build whatever I wanted to build with a team of five other students with all expenses paid. There are startups here that have problems finding enough qualified technical talent. I actually laughed really hard when I interned in Palo Alto and saw the internet speeds at our office.
Anyway, my point is that the problem isn't one of infrastructure. It's a chicken and egg problem in meatspace: if there were huge startups hubs in cheaper cities then it would be an easy decision for many to move to lower cost of living cities, but it's hard to start a movement. Silicon Valley's present success is the result of decades of tradition. What makes the small towns in the South Bay interesting places to live isn't the infrastructure but the density of interesting people.
Edit: I should add that the cost of living in the Midwest for a decently frugal, childless hacker willing to live with roommates is indeed $15,000 or less.
Just a datapoint that I (as a healthy young adult) live on 18k. It's a comfortable life in a beautiful neighborhood near UC Berkeley. You could do better if you moved into an oakland apartment or bart-enabled suburb.
tangent: can I email you? I'm moving to SF in September and trying to conserve my funds, and it seems you know the area quite well. I'd be happy to buy you a drink in exchange for your time.
Anyway, my point is that the problem isn't one of infrastructure. It's a chicken and egg problem in meatspace: if there were huge startups hubs in cheaper cities then it would be an easy decision for many to move to lower cost of living cities, but it's hard to start a movement. Silicon Valley's present success is the result of decades of tradition. What makes the small towns in the South Bay interesting places to live isn't the infrastructure but the density of interesting people.
Edit: I should add that the cost of living in the Midwest for a decently frugal, childless hacker willing to live with roommates is indeed $15,000 or less.