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It's not a major city by any means, but it does rate as a pretty scientific place: Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Consider that the town was built around an enormous uranium enrichment facility that ultimately became a national lab/weapons plant. Now we're left with an island in the middle of redneck central that's full of highly educated scientists, an active weapons plant, what was the world's fastest supercomputer, a test reactor, the neutron spallation experiment, and numerous other labs working on everything from knockout gene mice to novel organometallic reducing agents.
Living nearby, I can attest to the fact that Oak Ridge tries to separate itself from its redneck surroundings. Their symphony has to play in nearby conference halls, but they actually took the effort to found a symphony, the rationalists of East Tennessee, and the astronomical society hosts regular "star parties".