[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

I don't think it's reasonable to expect Chicago to be higher on the list. San Jose is really part of the Bay Area, imo. The #1 spot is even further out of reach and #4 doesn't exist.

Boston punches way above its weight, with MIT/Harvard plus tons of legacy and talent. NYC and L.A. are both larger, with L.A. having a pretty significant defense industry presence. A realistic goal is for Chicago to be 70 or 80% of L.A.'s funding, instead of 40%, keeping us at #5 but outpacing the peers at our heels. With U of I, Northwestern, Chicago, Argonne, Fermi plus a lot of talent, we've got fundamentals to run well ahead of the Atlantas, Dallas' and Phillies of the world.

What aerospace can generate in SoCal is pretty significant as well as what the media-entertainment ecosystem contributes to