You can go home again, sort of.

In his recent New York Times Op Ed piece, JD Vance writes about his move back to Ohio from Silicon Valley. After leaving Ohio at 19 to join the Marines, earn degrees from Ohio State and from Yale Law School, and then work at a leading Venture Capital firm in Silicon Valley, he felt the need to reconnect with his home state. He also addresses the brain drain of skilled and educated people from small towns to large urban cities, which has contributed to the economic decline of these town and the political and social polarization of this country.

Mr. Vance is not your typical tech entrepreneur, and it would be a stretch to say that his move represents a trend. In addition to working for Peter Thiel, he is the best-selling author of Hillbilly Elegy, a book that draws on his personal upbringing in Appalachia and Ohio to explain the anger and disaffection that has become so prevalent in the America between the coasts. Nevertheless, his desire to return to his roots, and to a place that feels more connected, is not unique. What stops many New York or Silicon Valley transplants from acting on it is a lack of opportunity.

Job creation in this country is almost entirely due to entrepreneurship, much of which is related to technology. New businesses require a supportive ecosystem to survive. An ecosystem provides access to talent, ideas, and capital, but it requires a certain critical mass in order to attract and retain all of the above. This has been the key driver of economic strength in New York, Silicon Valley, Boston, and Seattle over the past ten years.

Now, many mid-sized cities are developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem and starting to take off as well. What characteristics make these cities attractive? Proximity to universities, good public transportation, an airport hub, and a walkable urban grid are a good start. It also helps if they have an existing base of expertise that can be built upon by the tech entrepreneurs.

Appalachia and Middletown Ohio, where Mr. Vance grew up, are unlikely to become tech hubs that attract young educated professionals. On the other hand Columbus, Ohio, where Mr. Vance is moving, is well on its way. Its increasingly vibrant urban core, a growing tech center, and a diverse population can fulfill his desire to return to his home state while also providing many of the attributes that seem to have attracted him to the Bay Area.

For many young entrepreneurs, cities like Columbus provide an ideal balance between a relaxed and affordable lifestyle and a diverse and an energetic environment. They are finally reaching sufficient critical mass to create opportunity and community with other entrepreneurs.

While the startups themselves may not create a lot of jobs, they attract creative talent which in turn attracts capital and more established businesses. Enrico Moretti, in The New Geography of Jobs, makes the case that every tech job indirectly creates five other jobs, whereas a manufacturing job only creates 1.6 additional jobs.

Will these new jobs help the small towns like Middletown, Ohio, that have been hit the hardest? If the best minds of Middletown can fulfill their dreams in Columbus, rather than in Silicon Valley, they will build wealth and opportunity that is closer to home and more likely to flow back to Middletown in some way.

Mr. Vance is starting a non-profit in Columbus that will address the drug epidemic that has swept middle America. This helps Middletown in a pretty direct way. Non-profits are also an important part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition to the obvious social benefits they produce, they attract talent and capital and broaden the community’s skill set.

So if you are young and ambitious in Silicon Valley, you can go home again, as long as you don’t define home too narrowly. Columbus, Middletown, and America will be the better for it.

See more stories by Mitch Wasterlain in the CAPFUNDR Resource Center