The amount of location-agnostic industry (e.g. software) in Texas or the number of companies officially headquartered in Nevada are some obvious examples of the intuitive statement: the attractiveness of business policy affects where businesses organize on a macro scale. A recent example is Washington state -- already a finance averse state -- which added complex cryptocurrency broker dealer requirements in 2017 and overnight, most of the reputable exchanges serving US customers except Coinbase closed down operations in the state[0].

The world isn't black and white -- there are more factors in the world of business than just city tax policy. Weather, labor supply, image, capital supply, access to global trade, desirability for company decision makers, and other network effects explain NYC and SV. I hope that isn't controversial. For cities that have similar 'intangibles' going for them, I'd imagine city policy makes a big difference.

[0] https://www.geekwire.com/2017/new-bitcoin-regulations-shake-...