What I found in Tulsa is that the heartland covers the great central part of the country, not only geographically but also socially, culturally and even spiritually. For me, the Heartland represents mid-sized cities like Tulsa, middle-class citizens, and cities that strive to reach the middle class. “Whether it is a fabulous heartland or condemned, it prompts people to think that there is a gap between the center and the edge, between the heart and the national body,” writes historian Kristin L. Hoganson. This view is true, regardless of its definition or boundary: the heartland does represent a gap. We generally believe that people who lack opportunities are marginalized and operate on the margins of society. But the Heartland correctly shows us that metaphor is inverted – on the edge of economic opportunity, this metaphor represents a vast middle, while the coastal tech hub belongs to a minority, but firmly holds power due to its concentrated wealth.
Every city wants to be a technology hub, but only a few dominate the U.S. innovation systems on the coast, which is a problem. The Brookings Agency found that between 2005 and 2017, 90% of the country’s innovation sector growth came from only five coastal subways. From July 2022 to July 2023, six coastal cities accounted for nearly 50% of all our job postings in Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is the forefront of today’s technology industry. Agglomeration economics generated through groups of talent, industry and capital, and large coastal cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Washington, D.C., has monopolized innovation and its myriad benefits. This narrow geographical distribution of the innovative economy excludes heartland cities and limits opportunities for most populations.
Therefore, the American dream – through hard work, everyone has the idea of equal opportunity to live a good and decent life to make future generations go better – goes further for more people. Raj Chetty, an economist at Harvard University, said: “If we look at what happened over time, we’ll see a dramatic fading to the American dream that for children born in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, who entered the labor market today, the 1990s, now becomes 50-50 shots, parents who can do better than you, whether you’ll shoot better or not, whether you’ll do better or not. These are unacceptable odds that undermine belief in American democracy and capitalism, and unless heartland cities urgently reset the economy, they’ll only get worse.”
A heartland city like Tulsa can and must be actors in an innovative economy, and although it cannot be obtained, it is still the best opportunity to work long term and create wealth. But they don’t need to compete with the big coastal hubs. The middleweight class belongs to their own category and they should strive to be their best version.
Medium-sized cities such as Tulsa, with a population of 1 to 3 million people, have provided the basis for supporting the technology ecosystem: population density, cultural convenience and relatively low cost of living, which can eliminate entrepreneurial spirit. The pandemic labor trend highlights these advantages, as members of the creative class can now find a better quality of life more easily and stay away from coastal cities, in which case growth and equity often play a role in the opposition. Well-known technology hubs even expel good compensation, and this group of mobile talent is finding benefits in modest places like Tulsa. This influx of talent creates opportunities for any city that can attract and retain them.
Despite having many key elements of a technology ecosystem, too many heartland cities have also changed their abilities by keeping close to outdated economic development, insufficient community investment, or insisting on nostalgic cultural awareness (a nostalgic cultural awareness), thus changing the figures of outside talents and investors and investors. Although most changes occur organically over time, the widening of inequality and geographical differences in technology at home make us a turning point for a country. Heartland cities need intention and hasty – or risk of possible death.
Retrieved from Reshape the heartland Copyright by Nicholas Lalla © Nicholas Lalla by 2025. By allowing Harper Horizon’s license HarperCollins Focus, LLC.
