There are many good Universities in the central part of the US but why do so many innovative things, i.e. Silicon Valley, seem to happen on one side of the country or the other (California, New York, Massachusetts to name a few)? Even what is considered the most high tech area in the center of the country, Austin Texas, is a huge liberal bastion. Minnesota, with all of its medical research and technology tends to be liberal.
Think of all of the innovations, especially technical and informational, that were conceived or inspired on schools on the "coasts."
Why does "thinking outside the box" seem to develop on the "coasts" ?
Rub a Dub