3 ms·

> After all, the appeal of biggest cities was always, at least to me, the availability of white collar, highly paid jobs You are definitely unusual. Since rem

by smt88 9mo ago

> After all, the appeal of biggest cities was always, at least to me, the availability of white collar, highly paid jobs You are definitely unusual. Since remote work became more common because of Covid, remote workers have moved within the same city or moved to smaller cities. Only 4% relocated to rural areas[1]. Cities are appealing to most people because they have entertainment, variety, walkability, and many other benefits that rural places don't provide. The urbanization of America isn't only because work has changed, but because people generally prefer urban or suburban living over rural living. 1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11551397/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11551397/

lazide 9mo ago
‘Smaller cities’ in the US are what most of the world calls ‘rural’. Rural in the US is truly remote, not just ‘has farmland’.
- smt88 9mo ago
  > ‘Smaller cities’ in the US are what most of the world calls ‘rural’. What? No it's not. In the study I linked and also for most people's purposes, "smaller city" is something like Milwaukee or Pittsburgh, a place with an urban center, a real downtown, some skyscrapers, and probably a few corporate headquarters.
  - lazide 9mo ago
    Generally smaller cities are the surroundings and suburbs to cities like that.
  - esseph 9mo ago
    To somebody that lives rurally in the US, a town of 10,000 is where you go to get groceries. 100,000 gets you a movie theater and shopping. Pittsburgh? That's basically a megacity.
    - smt88 9mo ago
      Yes, that town of 10,000 is probably rural, and in the study I linked, people were not moving to those towns. They were moving to actual cities. What are we even talking about here?
      - esseph 9mo ago
        I can find data that points out two trends right now. 1. Decentralized growth into exurbs and rural markets. This is further driven by USDA home loans into those markets, where people can not only afford to live but buy homes 90min or less away from a metropolitan area (but living outside the metro). This move into exurbs and rural markets is reversing a 40 year trend! 2. Movement from major top-5 us cities into smaller cities with a university or two (Knoxville, TN; Boise, ID; and Tulsa, OK are seeing the highest inbound-to-outbound ratios). Major cities like New York and Los Angeles are still seeing net domestic outflows in 2026.
        its_magic 9mo ago
        In fact the Yankees, Californians, and city slickers of all sorts are FLOODING into the southeast USA, and have been since they suddenly decided all at once in 2020 this is where they need to be for some reason. I've never seen so many foreigner plates in my life here in Alabama. (New York, California, etc.) Between them and the half of Mexico/Guatemala who already lives here, it's getting pretty crowded out here in rural nowheresville these days. At least I can be thankful it's not as crowded here as East Tennessee, North Carolina, etc are getting to be. Yet. The very bad reputation of Alabama among a certain crowd seems to keep more of those types away.
        lazide 9mo ago
        The big reason people were in the cities was because of jobs. When remote work happened, all those people were still making big city pay, but could now move and live in lower cost areas (with fresh air, less crowding, etc.).
berdario 9mo ago
I don't think he's arguing for rural, just expressing concern about the *biggest* cities. > entertainment, variety, walkability, and many other benefits that rural places don't provide I appreciate all of this as well, but at the end of the day, I moved to a city with 80x the population of my hometown because of a (specific) job. Rent is also significantly higher, and if I had to consume my savings to survive here, I'd surely move out. Entertainment and walkability have secondary importance compared to putting food on the table and saving for retirement.
- smt88 9mo ago
  > Rent is also significantly higher [in a larger city] For most people, pay is also significantly higher. Most employers adjust salary based on location.

by smt88 9mo ago

lazide 9mo ago

‘Smaller cities’ in the US are what most of the world calls ‘rural’. Rural in the US is truly remote, not just ‘has farmland’.

smt88 9mo ago
> ‘Smaller cities’ in the US are what most of the world calls ‘rural’. What? No it's not. In the study I linked and also for most people's purposes, "smaller city" is something like Milwaukee or Pittsburgh, a place with an urban center, a real downtown, some skyscrapers, and probably a few corporate headquarters.
- lazide 9mo ago
  Generally smaller cities are the surroundings and suburbs to cities like that.
- esseph 9mo ago
  To somebody that lives rurally in the US, a town of 10,000 is where you go to get groceries. 100,000 gets you a movie theater and shopping. Pittsburgh? That's basically a megacity.
  - smt88 9mo ago
    Yes, that town of 10,000 is probably rural, and in the study I linked, people were not moving to those towns. They were moving to actual cities. What are we even talking about here?
    - esseph 9mo ago
      I can find data that points out two trends right now. 1. Decentralized growth into exurbs and rural markets. This is further driven by USDA home loans into those markets, where people can not only afford to live but buy homes 90min or less away from a metropolitan area (but living outside the metro). This move into exurbs and rural markets is reversing a 40 year trend! 2. Movement from major top-5 us cities into smaller cities with a university or two (Knoxville, TN; Boise, ID; and Tulsa, OK are seeing the highest inbound-to-outbound ratios). Major cities like New York and Los Angeles are still seeing net domestic outflows in 2026.
      - its_magic 9mo ago
        In fact the Yankees, Californians, and city slickers of all sorts are FLOODING into the southeast USA, and have been since they suddenly decided all at once in 2020 this is where they need to be for some reason. I've never seen so many foreigner plates in my life here in Alabama. (New York, California, etc.) Between them and the half of Mexico/Guatemala who already lives here, it's getting pretty crowded out here in rural nowheresville these days. At least I can be thankful it's not as crowded here as East Tennessee, North Carolina, etc are getting to be. Yet. The very bad reputation of Alabama among a certain crowd seems to keep more of those types away.
        lazide 9mo ago
        The big reason people were in the cities was because of jobs. When remote work happened, all those people were still making big city pay, but could now move and live in lower cost areas (with fresh air, less crowding, etc.).

berdario 9mo ago

I don't think he's arguing for rural, just expressing concern about the *biggest* cities. > entertainment, variety, walkability, and many other benefits that rural places don't provide I appreciate all of this as well, but at the end of the day, I moved to a city with 80x the population of my hometown because of a (specific) job. Rent is also significantly higher, and if I had to consume my savings to survive here, I'd surely move out. Entertainment and walkability have secondary importance compared to putting food on the table and saving for retirement.

smt88 9mo ago
> Rent is also significantly higher [in a larger city] For most people, pay is also significantly higher. Most employers adjust salary based on location.