Varasano also rejects the "special water" claim. I think the historically poor quality of pizza in rural areas is due to the "trade secret" recipe factors (which Varasano identifies) not being widely shared.
I've been to small towns with a "House of Pizza" that made an awful flavorless and bready crust, and the locals loved it because they had no reference for anything better.
Yeah, it's probably mainly New York's intense competition that has made the pizza excellent. Unless you're in Times Square and have lots of tourists to prey on, you just can't pay the rent if you make bad food in NYC, it's too easy to find (and walk to) 10 other restaurants making the same thing.
I've been to small towns with a "House of Pizza" that made an awful flavorless and bready crust, and the locals loved it because they had no reference for anything better.