Who had ever heard of Seattle as a major power base for technology, before Microsoft? Who ever thought of Georgia or Texas as a place for game development, ten years ago?

Great places may attract great people, but sometimes a great PERSON attracts great people no matter where they are.

I moved to the middle of Ohio with the expectation that it was the end of my game development career and that I’d have to, I dunno, write enterprise software or work for a bank or something. Instead, I find that there’s a huge demand for teachers here, there’s a surprising amount of local game developers (albeit fragmented), and I’m getting more offers for remote contract work than I know what to do with.

Did I move to Columbus because, as a city, iti was in line with my values? Nah, I moved here because Sharon did. And she moved here because OSU gave her a grad school package that was more compelling than the other places that accepted her. I couldn’t even tell you what Columbus says as a city. I don’t care. I spend more time on the computer dealing with people in other states than I do walking the city streets, anyway.

There’s so much going on in New York, I feel like it’s unfair to focus only on Finance. Fashion is really huge here, and I see how that relates to “hipness”, but the overall cultural capital here is humongous. The collection of artistry and talent in terms of performers and creators shouldn’t be overlooked; I’ve personally felt the pressure to dress and look better upon moving here, but I’ve also felt the vibrancy and inspiration of the artistic community too. Being surrounded by so many talented people is humbling and clearly does raise ambition.

I have to wonder if I’m actually smart enough to live in a city like Cambridge. I’m smart, but I’m not obsessively or ambitiously focused on becoming smarter and smarter.