Quote Originally Posted by mwilbert View Post
This thesis seems ridiculous. Growing, economically vibrant cities attract the ambitious. Detroit was full of ambitious people in the 'teens and 'twenties. Now it isn't, because most ambitious people don't think that Detroit is the best place to fulfill those ambitions.

Also, I think Chicago is fairly midwestern, and not short of either boosterism or ambition.
Hi. Sure, economically vibrant cities attract people off all stripes. But they become vibrant because they attracted enough ambitious people and civic boosters to start with. Vibrancy isn't an exogenous factor.

Also, I did note in the post that Chicago was an exception, as it is for many, many things in the Midwest.