> That's basically the herd mentality I'm talking about - people wanting to live in the same areas. Call it what you will, but people generally want to live ar

> That's basically the herd mentality I'm talking about - people wanting to live in the same areas. Call it what you will, but people generally want to live around other people - preferably people they care about but at least people who are not dangerous to them or impose much social or financial cost on them. > People don't want to live there because nobody is moving there and making improvements. Actually many previously declining places have reached critical mass and people are making improvements and attracting more people. But those places (i.e. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati), are sucking up most of the interest and creating their own gravity, leaving little left for Youngstown and Flint. > It's easier to just move where everyone else is moving. Of course it's easier - it's simple economies of scale. People seek access to physical and social resources. Raw land or emptied cities and towns with crumbling infrastructure don't provide that.