[Cookingboy]

>Your kids all else equal will be outsprinted by kids who live in more competitive cities

But it won't "all else equal", there are so many variables at play here that it's meaningless to talk about a hypothetical "all else equal" scenario. Also there have been so many successful people who were born and raised in what you'd call "less competitive" areas.

>The irony is that most educated people living in small towns want to get out, and a generation or two after they do they want to go back.

What's ironic about people going to places chasing things they desire? Big cities and small towns offer different things, and those things value differently to different people. The people who are leaving small towns chasing after opportunities and the people who want to move back to small towns from big cities are obviously at different stages in their lives and value different things.

>Will the cycle repeat itself?

Probably? But why is that an issue?