Apart from housing, can someone tell me what is so overwhelmingly cheaper away from the urban metrocentres that this writer is smugly fleeing? It's not food (n

Apart from housing, can someone tell me what is so overwhelmingly cheaper away from the urban metrocentres that this writer is smugly fleeing? It's not food (not a consequential part of most reader's here's budget). It's not transportation (public transport is cheaper and more available in high density areas). So, apart from housing, what is it?