The government has tried this (Ames national lab, LIGO), but by and large good scientists would prefer not to live in State University Town X (at least among my sample of friends)
One of my friends moved from New York to West Virginia, and got a lot of funny looks from her New York friends. She ended up meeting more interesting people there than she'd met in New York. I went to visit, and also ran across more interesting people there than I have in New York.
Urbanites can be pretty provincial in their own ways.
I always thought the term 'provincial' was backward - urbanites have been embedded in their support infrastructure - their city - all their lives. They are inordinately proud of how they are integrated into it seamlessly. I call it 'dependent'. I've been to the city; I've also lived significant amounts of time (decades) outside it. Without all that infrastructure. Who is more 'provincial'? Who less capable of moving confidently through challenging environments?
