http://theurbanophile.blogspot.com/2...ities-are.html

I don't have an opinion on this blog post yet, but I reckon DYers will. The Urbanophile is a mighty fine source of data and news on Midwest cities, but this post is not academic. The author merely opines that Southern cities have an edge on Midwestern cities like Detroit because of their aristocratic culture that comes from a Scots-Irish ancestry. This all amounts to an especially "ambitious" culture that the Midwest lacks, according to the author. The Urbanophile also believes Southern cities know their weaknesses and make every effort to compensate for them, whereas Midwestern cities are delusional about their own greatness.

The author admits that his post has no academic grounds whatsoever, so give him credit for that.

As a former resident of cities in Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas, I agree on one point: Southerners are hungry for dominance. It's the "SEC" mentality that pushes them to crave bragging rights. I've met far more go-getters and optimists while living and working in the South than when living and working in Chicago, Cleveland, or Detroit. As the leader from Charlotte, N.C., stated in the blog post: "We have a chip on our shoulder; we don't want to be second to anyone."

I've never encountered that spirit here in the Great Lakes region.

Not to say that it wasn't here. Perhaps we are victims of our own prosperity in the 20th century. Perhaps our fall from the "Premier League" will stoke the fires of ambition again.