"a lot of techies live in areas with exorbitant cost of living,"
And what do you think is the primary driver of said cost of living?
I believe there is a ton of arbitrary complexity in the system, and though it's not specifically created, it definitely grows if it's not checked and entities with power have no reason to do that.
Google, Oracle, MS, Governments, Banks - have very little incentive to clear the weeds, usually just the opposite.
Wherever there is steady profit, there are layers of cruft.
