What matters most is working with good people -- the rest will follow.

That usually means a city. I like being in or near one. I want to work on important projects with great people. I like being around people who care about the same stuff I do. But I also like mixing with people in other fields; a lot of growth comes from there.

There's no perfect place. And every place has it's downside. But I'd love to be a part of the burgeoning of the hot new city. I'd love to run the Sims on life to build my own perfect city.

I can see the city model soon becoming obsolete. At least the model setup today. Hyper-specialization may force things to scale down and network, instead of centralize like we have today.

Truthful information on the real aspects of Globalization but there's just one part to which I disagree:

A person working in the foothills of the Himalayas COULD learn as much as she wishes, as long as there's a decent Internet connection,

Sure, occasional meetings with other (smart) professionals are often nice but not so much essential for learning, I guess.

This also links to a couple of pg's themes regarding the importance of Silicon Valley -- see http://paulgraham.com/cities.html and http://paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html .

I thought it was going to be along lines that I heard in undergrad, that, in the 50s or so before computers, government's sheer bureaucracy limited its size. That computerized record keeping came along just in time to allow it to keep growing. I wish I had cites.