I agree with you on this one, I lived in Davis in 2016 for a few months. The University brings a lot of young people to the area, there is a decent restaurant and bar scene, lots of people bicycle here, the weather is sunny and mostly dry. If you want to go to SF for an excursion, you can ride the Amtrak train from downtown Davis to Berkeley for < $25. It is about an hour north-east from the bay area by car. I can't speak much about the tech scene, but I was working as a developer for a very small tech company during my time there. But I imagine if you dig a bit you can find fellow techies. Also my impression for living there for 6 months was that Davis really felt like a "little San Francisco". The prevailing vibe is liberal and intellectual. Food is affordable, plentiful and fresh as Davis is largely an Agricultural community. It is a quiet community and feels very safe -- the kind of place where pretty young ladies feel safe to walk/cycle home at 1am after they have been drinking.