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I totally agree on the hub cities phenomenon. I've been noticing it for 15+ years. I've talked to older people (>50) and they say that no-- when they were in th

by api 9y ago

I totally agree on the hub cities phenomenon. I've been noticing it for 15+ years. I've talked to older people (>50) and they say that no-- when they were in their 20s and 30s you did not have to be in one of about eight cities to advance your career. Your career could advance in St. Louis, Cincinnati, or Phoenix. Stuff actually happened in places other than the big coastal cities. I don't know the explanation for this, but IMHO it's one of the absolute worst trends of the early 21st century. It's also the opposite of what the Internet was supposed to do. I'm supposed to be able to live in some tiny town in West Virginia and have a broadband Internet line and work alongside people in NYC. Technically it's possible but the culture has shifted radically toward hyper-concentration of all innovation and advancement into a few places.

HarryHirsch 9y ago
I think it's due to the fact that no one stays with the same employer for more than four years. Back then, you could look forward to a decades-long career with the same company (my father-in-law was with IBM all his life) - you joined Dow out of university and could expect to stay with them for 20 years. But who would even consider moving to Midland, MI nowadays? It's a godforsaken place an hour north of Flint! You can't risk buying a house in a one-company town! So we all submit to the Boston or Bay area commute madness.