There's a multiplier effect about these superstar cities as you're calling them, right? You know, they're cities that are greater than the sum of their parts. The San Francisco area becomes a net exporter of college graduates to other parts of the country. If this were happening in like a Rust Belt community or a smaller community in middle America, we would call it brain drain. That is exactly how economists think this work.
In recent years, well-paid and college-educated Americans have shed major cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington for places like Philadelphia or Birmingham, Ala.
Emily Badger, who writes about cities and urban policy for The Upshot at The New York Times, explains what is driving the change, and what it means for the future of the American city.
Guest: Emily Badger, a cities and urban policy correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
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