Not to sound snarky, but it comes down to the simple fact that Seattle is a major American city, with many many many people, and is riding upon an internet wave

Not to sound snarky, but it comes down to the simple fact that Seattle is a major American city, with many many many people, and is riding upon an internet wave that excludes no one. Your argument may apply historically, but now --definitely not. Everyone is simply doing their own thing, incentives or not.