re: I’m a Coastal Elite From the Midwest: The Real Bubble is Rural America

Rural America. No Muslims, gay or interracial couples & no culcha.Clean air and low crime rates. Good ppl and good schools. What's not to love.

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That was true before real estate skyrocketed 20 years ago, it isn't really anymore.

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A good example of a bubble within your own city

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It's ranked 18th

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Chicago in particular is probably a lot more like a coastal city given its size, economic influence, center of academia, center of media, political and demographic history, etc. than virtually every other city not on the coasts.


So basically, it’s a big city and geography has nothing to do with it. Hence why “coastal” elite is a silly phrase.

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Chicago is different in that sense compared to, say, Atlanta or Houston or Denver or wherever else. Not just a function of size - it's a function of cultural capital.

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To a degree, I think you're right, but there is definitely an out-sized cultural and political influence and so forth in the hands of places on the coasts - particularly, NYC, DC, LA, and SF/Silicon Valley - as compared to similar people and places elsewhere. Your random wealthy Kansas City guy doesn't have the ear of an NBC executive or a WaPo editor nor does he rub shoulders with a Deputy Secretary of State or CTO at Uber. Different cultures with a different mindset.


But isn’t that just a function of size? Big cities have bigger economies and bigger market shares. It’s not really out-sized on a per capita basis.

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Not necessarily. Cultural capital isn't just a function of size. It's a necessary input, but not the only one. The news you consume (NYC and DC), the people that administer our federal government (DC), the movies and TV shows you watch (LA), the platforms on which you communication (SF), and so forth are much more dependent on the people who are supplying and administering the product or function than, say, the gas that you use to get to work (Houston) or who administers your commercial real estate or runs your airline (Dallas).

ETA: It's not really any different than certain cities being much wealthier than others in terms of wealth - some cities have a lot higher cultural capital than others. DC, in particular, is a big example of it. It was a large city but not a huge metro area until about thirty or forty years ago, but it's cultural capital and influence was, naturally, much more significant than its size due to the presence of the federal government.

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Most rural schools are pretty shitty.

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Schools are nothing but byproducts of good students

Further proof, that anyone can write a blog.