The Civic Divide Between Quantity and Quality

"Two dynamics reflect what has happened throughout America, from retail to media, where there has been a great "hour glassing" effect in the marketplace. A small but significant high end is thriving, almost everywhere but particularly in the quality oriented cities. The low end is also doing well, particularly in the quantity oriented cities. Neimans and Wal-Mart, indeed."

In the future, both models face difficult challenges. High quality talent will be squeezed out of the high end cities, and poached by the quantity areas, which will have trouble expanding once they have outgrown their greenfield advantages.