[zz865]

> Everywhere you go is far more crowded than 30 years ago,

Its fascinating that I feel the same, but like many people I moved to a bigger city than my parents.

But recently I've been spending a lot of time in old rural villages In NE USA and Eastern Europe (yeah weird combination) and they're all dying, empty houses no one wants to live any more, schools closing.

[throwaway0a5e]

Schools are closing because there are no kids because nobody spends the child raising years of their life there, they spend them chasing money. Houses are empty because they are owned by out of state couples who spend 3wk/year there and have grand plans to retire there.

[zz865]

Houses are empty because no one wants them. I mean like this https://oldhousesunder50k.com/