7 grew rapidly, driven in large part by the expansion of university-affiliated medical centers. As a result, universities and their medical centers became increasingly central to local economies and American research leadership worldwide. By the 1990s, the center of gravity had clearly shifted in small cities away from industry to “meds and eds.” These historically working class industrial communities were reconfigured as more white collar workers, academics, researchers, doctors, nurses, and students moved to these places. In Allentown, Ann Arbor, Bethlehem, Erie, Providence, New Haven, Meadville, Middletown, Quakertown, Stamford, and St. Louis Park, meds and eds became the primary economic anchor in the wake of their industrial decline. For many of these cities, this transition helped stabalize or recover their local economy; hopsitals, medical centers, and universities provide high-wage jobs and often become Small City Anchor Institutions • Context St. Lukes Hospital, Bethlehem PA. (Postcard: R. Ramsay Mebane, Wilkes-Barre, Pa 1930-1939)
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