There is another dynamic at play, not mentioned in the article: the smaller cities are actively trying to become better places to live. Here's a nice writeup: h

There is another dynamic at play, not mentioned in the article: the smaller cities are actively trying to become better places to live. Here's a nice writeup: https://annehelen.substack.com/p/this-land-is-your-land https://annehelen.substack.com/p/this-land-is-your-land Quoting from that blog post: "“Cool,” which is to say, a certain type of bourgeois, with a certain aesthetic that unites it with larger cities while still maintaining a feeling of quaintness. In Tulsa, for example, there’s a gorgeous new book store, an ever-expanding number of breweries, co-working spaces in rehabbed brick buildings, coffee shops in rehabbed brick buildings, airy restaurants with farm-to-table menus in rehabbed brick buildings. There’s a walkable downtown, a First Friday art walk to get people there, a cultural tourist site (the Woody Guthrie Museum) and public (in this case, actually private) outdoor space (The Gathering Place)."