Is the North Bay a Good Place to Start a Web StartUp?

We all know that Silicon Valley is the technology startup capital of the world.  So many of the great tech companies are located in the valley, along with most of the prominent venture firms, and a ton of talented people live there. 

Sonoma County is a great place to live, while it is crazy expensive (as is most of the Bay Area), the county has so many quality of life amenities to offer. But is it a good place for a web startup?

This is a question that has been on my mind for awhile.  While technology has certainly created a flat environment where companies can launch from anywhere and thrive in the marketplace, the vacuum like pull of the Valley is still very strong.

I for one really want to launch my startup (promoterforce) here, but I fear that by locating so close to the Valley, and still having all the cost restrictions associated with living and working in Northern California, without the famed startup culture and resources, that I might be better off there instead of here in Petaluma.

We know that PNN is located here, and that is very exciting, it gives me a lot of hope of creating a small community of web startups that thrive in Sonoma County.

If anyone has pros or cons of doing a startup in Sonoma, please share them in the comments section.