The power structures (formal and informal) in towns are stifling. They tend to be fairly unified or homogenous.
Formal (new businesses challenging established players, even indirectly such as competing for talent) and informal (personal and/or political nonconformity) challenges to these power structures are punished mercilessly.
This is less true in cities, because with greater scale (and broader power structures with more players,) small "threats" to the established order can emerge and incubate, or even be nurtured by large competitors (think VC) without being directly crushed.
Formal (new businesses challenging established players, even indirectly such as competing for talent) and informal (personal and/or political nonconformity) challenges to these power structures are punished mercilessly.
This is less true in cities, because with greater scale (and broader power structures with more players,) small "threats" to the established order can emerge and incubate, or even be nurtured by large competitors (think VC) without being directly crushed.