Interesting piece! The 'better public transit, less auto dependency and more walkable neighborhoods' preference might not be entirely virtue signalling. If someone is considering moving from somewhere without those amenities to [another city], then yes, there are limited options available and moving to those options is increasingly challenging due to cost.
But if that person is still considering moving, then they are comparing a bunch of auto-dependent, non-walkable places, in which case, then the midwest is competing with other auto-dependent, non-walkable places, and the lack of openness/economy/weather/crime become more important, because there isn't a comparative advantage. Which is too bad, because given the history of midwestern cities there could have been such an advantage, but this was the path not (yet?) taken...
Interesting piece! The 'better public transit, less auto dependency and more walkable neighborhoods' preference might not be entirely virtue signalling. If someone is considering moving from somewhere without those amenities to [another city], then yes, there are limited options available and moving to those options is increasingly challenging due to cost.
But if that person is still considering moving, then they are comparing a bunch of auto-dependent, non-walkable places, in which case, then the midwest is competing with other auto-dependent, non-walkable places, and the lack of openness/economy/weather/crime become more important, because there isn't a comparative advantage. Which is too bad, because given the history of midwestern cities there could have been such an advantage, but this was the path not (yet?) taken...