The classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life, has its fans on MoneyLaw, most vocally Marie Reilly and me. Stumbling across an old Salon article reminds me that there are those who prefer Pottersville to Bedford Falls.Why does this matter? Because the market for academic labor is fickle and heavily populated with players who tend to prefer big-city entertainment over quieter settings with greater intensity than the broader pool of educated professionals, let alone the American population as a whole. I suspect that there is also a measurable impact on geographically diverse law schools' ability to attract applicants and to convert admittees into matriculants.
Herewith an exercise for MoneyLaw readers with mathematical aptitude and time on their hands: Assess the impact of location on law schools' U.S. News rankings — overall, academic reputation, reputation among lawyers and judges — and/or other (admittedly imperfect) measures of these schools' reputation, according to dimensions such as proximity to a (large) metropolitan area and Richard Florida's Creative Class criteria.