Boston: The Silicon Valley of longevity? An older population can serve as the hub for a new kind of innovation cluster. By Joseph Coughlin and Luke YoquintoUpdated February 15, 2021, 12:18 p.m. Email to a Friend In the 1980s, Boston fumbled an opportunity that would haunt it for generations. If, at the dawn of that decade, you were asked to predict where Americaâs technological epicenter would soon develop, you might have pointed to the area defined by Route 128. There, a leading group of computer developers had set up shop, supported by a web of academic, business, government, and financial interests. The countryâs high-tech future was being written and, as in revolutions past, it seemed Boston would be holding the quill.