It is interesting that competition seems to come from another mid-sized city (Nashville) rather than a return to megacities. There are plenty of such smaller ci

It is interesting that competition seems to come from another mid-sized city (Nashville) rather than a return to megacities. There are plenty of such smaller cities and if there is indeed a move away from 10mln+ sized cities toward 1mln+ sized cities there will be no shortage of offering. What will be the optimal urban shape and size in a much more digitally interconnected world? It still an open question. The pandemic forced people to recognize this is a major new dynamic but we are far from a new equilibrium. The Austin boom and (purported) bust might be seen as exploring the new efficient frontier. The conjecture would be that smaller cities, sized and organized to offer the amenities and opportunities of the traditional metropolises of the 20th century but where people are not forced to pay disproportionate noise, polution and overcrowding penalties will eventually become the standard pattern. Much will depend on the precise non-linear dependencies on scale (both negative and positive factors).