Kotkin overemphasizes the primacy of Houston and SFO for effect. DFW (7 million, +20% a decade) and the emerging Austin San Antonio conurbation (6 million, +25% per decade) challenge Houston and that's just in Texas.
But Houston and SFO represent the the two polar worldviews at war in our country: paternal gentry liberalism and traditional American capitalist entrepenurialism or to put it another way: Ivy League Elitism vs. State U egalitarianism. In SFO the former has taken on an almost curated museum quality so intent is it on "preserving" to augment the lifestyles of its wealthy donors. The other is a roaring, sweaty brawling confusion. Much less edifying but much more American.
Want to guess which city normal working people are treated better in? Have higher standards of living? More autonomy? A better shot at living better than their parents? I'll give you a hint: the one people are flooding to, not the one that is exporting people. Read it all at the link.
http://www.newgeography.com/content/004551-battle-upstarts-houston-vs-san-francisco-bay
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