Mid-sized cities outperform major metros at turning economic growth into patents

I’ve long suspected that there’s an inverse correlation between novelty and population density (to a point).

I remember reading a story about the early days of transistors (Walter Brattain, is described as being a "farm boy and a born tinkerer”), and first having this thought.

My (probably wrong) tl;dr is that cities are great for spreading/growing products and technology, but that the monotony of suburbs is better suited for the exploration of unknown territory.

I’d love to be wrong about this (building in SF atm), but it’s been a nagging thought in the back of my brain (move to Silicon Valley proper).

What am I missing?