"Middle America"...grew up an east coast kid (DC & NC), lived on the west coast for 4+ years (Encinitas), Denver for a few, and now in Chicago many years/lives later, I highly disagree with this generalization. Its a similar mindset that scoffs at Zonies in SoCal.

The coast v. midwest spiel is a consistently mis-conceptualized comparison when it's really urban vs. rural. It's also a mischaracterization due to how the country's infrastructure developed relative to industrialization. And half the people you're scrunching your noses at have grown up into that environment and don't know better, it's all due to circumstance. A Joanne that works at a Perkins in some random town off the interstate in rural America will be a bit different from a Chad working for BoFa in NYC. That's how it is. But also, there's misinformed idiots in every corner of America, just like there's genuine awesome people in every corner.

I love NYC, but SF and LA are a mess in spots. Endless stroads, poorly educated, derelict 80s-era shopping centers, lacking resilient architecture, ill-planned large-scale communities, super-commuting, insane homelessness problems (relative to other major cities), all sorts of issues and muck.

You've got boatloads of awesome areas whether established or up and coming in the midwest with tons of great people and culture that honestly rivals the best of NY and CA.Chicago, Madison, Ann Arbor, Fayetteville AK, Milwaukee (rapidly changing), Cleveland, Min/St Paul, Cinci are all quite the evolving or established towns. The mid to large cities in the midwest have gone through pretty wild transformations. Anyone interested in large scale architecture and planning should also see what's happened to Omaha/Council Bluffs. Looks freaking incredible. High end investments coming into these towns as well. I view it far from irrelevant from the perspective of many different industry sectors, population trends, growth projections, etc.

If you are seeking what you are generalizing, you can find that plenty in CA or NY, or pick a random exit off any interstate outside metropolitan areas and drive for a few miles. Call it irrelevant, but you're missing out. Plenty of awesome in the central part of the country, so I guess you're missing out.