People Leaving Cities

I'd guess because of the economy. The high paying/skilled jobs are there so people were forced to move. Outside of this strange vocal minority that shows up here, very few people would actually prefer to live in an urban area instead of a small town or suburb or whatever given the choice.

People leaving the city for less expensive areas

Are people quitting because they don’t want to move?

People don't move places because they're trendy. They move places and stay there because that's where the jobs are.

Are you trying to paint a conspiracy here? It seems like people just move around if they can, and one pressure that drives people away is a lack of housing even worse than other places' lack of housing. If there's less of a lack of housing (relative to how bad it is everywhere else), of course a place becomes more attractive to move to.

But most people actually live in the big metros. If you grew up in LA, Chicago, Atlanta, ... area, why would you really need to move? Unless you have a highly specific skillset, most people can have a fine career locally. High mobility can be a sign of weak local job markets, this is the dominant view. You can also take an optimistic view; low mobility is a sign of sustained local wealth accumulation and strong local job markets.

For decades people from all over the country, many of these small towns moved to places like NY, Chicago, SF etc. and the respective suburbs in search for better jobs, opportunity etc. It didn't seem like it was a big concern then to anyone that the locals in these cities could be negatively affected by higher rents, home prices etc. Why is it different when the reverse happens?If its ok for a young person to leave their hometown, move to a city and call it home to make a better life wit

The vast vast majority of people who leave SF or NYC move to either the suburbs or other (cheaper) cities. Neither option is rural by any stretch of the imagination. Humans are social animals and most enjoy spending time with other humans that share interests with them which is much easier in urban environments.

You move to a big city when you are young. Enjoy the social activities, the night life etc. If at some point you get married, have kids etc - generally you don't get to make full use of the city anymore, though you're still paying full price.What I see A LOT is when people have kids, if they originally came from somewhere else is that the city's shine really dulls. They move back to where they came from, especially if there's a family support structure there. At one place

I'm not sure if I agree with this, for multiple reasons; it also stinks of classicism and a superiority complex. Besides, even if you made living more affordable in urban areas, that doesn't mean people will necessarily move there. People are complex beings and aren't going to just pick up and move as much as economists, among others, tend to think for better job opportunities. There are other things that tie people to places For instance, one reason I live where I do is because m