That's a common theme parroted by many, and a lot of ambitious people do indeed move to the coast. However, I think you are underestimating the amount of ambit

That's a common theme parroted by many, and a lot of ambitious people do indeed move to the coast. However, I think you are underestimating the amount of ambitious people in minneapolis and the surrounding area. We have tons of fortune 500 companies here and lots of world class smart ambitious people. Not everyone is a 20 something who has no family obligations and is willing to go work anywhere in the country. Furthermore, in minneapolis we have very high salaries relative to cost of living. If you make 120k here you're basically rich and can save an enormous amount per month. This kind of salary to cost of living ratio allows an ambitious person to save tons of money each month and invest it how they please. Anyhow, I don't think minneapolis is a long shot. We have a very good economy and infrastructure and lots of people doing smart/ambitious things.