There isn't really a HW part of SV. Hardware engineers aren't paid well enough to live there in droves like programmers. There are some of course, but the ones I know are in San Diego or Bremerton or Israel.

Also, it's completely normal to run a factory 24/7. I think people are just impressed because TSMC is the only one they've read about?

(However, it's correct that a TSMC fab is the most advanced and complicated process on the planet.)