What really happened (and this is true to some degree in the Boston area as well), is that the tech boom(s) actually started in what was (at least then) largely suburban or even semi-rural areas. Silicon Valley and Route 128. This was, after all, a period when there was largely a migration away from cities.<p>When I was working in the Boston area tech industry (actually near 495) in the 80s&#x2F;90s out of school, relatively few people I knew lived in the city proper or had a particular interest in doing so.<p>But then this interest in migrating to at least a handful of specific dense cities by young professionals blossomed and the nearby cities to these booms aren&#x27;t really prepared for it.