you are mistaken
in IRONRANGE Minnesota, i invested two iron mines, and had a city once within 4 years, meanwhile the capital of the state was added by event only.
problem, this changed by mysterious ways and for the second or third patch i never saw this kind of cities again. also the rhythms new cities are introduced on the map changed... there are some discussions about observations about it.
however, final point is unfortunately we stick mor to the scripted base, than to card and cards have higher impact in areas of high population, than in low.
see it that way:
resource site demands workforce,
workforce comes,
population increases,
card impact will be for higher than before...
but still not enough for sudden terra forming from mud to metropolis
