[f1yght]

This assumes that small towns that have shrinking and aging populations are more desirable to live in than cities for the sole purpose that housing is cheaper. Cities have large advantages like proximity to other jobs should it be lost, services, better schools, better restaurants, more people your age you can hang out with.

[local_crmdgeon]

I know a powerful, politically connected woman who moved from the DMV to Aimes Iowa. She absolutely loves it, and is shocked by how much more walkable, affordable, and cultured the town is than where she came from.

This is maybe the ... 15th? person I know who's said something like this. I think people literally don't know how nice a lot of America is.

[__derek__]

Ames is not a gutted Midwestern town, though. College towns centered on large research universities benefit from a similar dynamic as the DMV.