I grew up in a smaller town that while it is not declining like the article, has changed and on a recent visit I thought "I don't think I'd mind living here".

But then politics ... I'm not interested in living in a place where the politicians are banning books, trying to pass laws that make librarians criminally liable if they lend out a book deemed objectionable and other strange culture war efforts.

It's a non starter, I don't want to be a part of that.

Let alone the bizarre support of GOP candidates who pass laws that strip folks of insurance coverage, cut regulation, and effectively push rural hospitals to consolidate or outright close. Then they inexplicably complain about it. I don't want to live someplace where the locals are determined to poke themselves in the eye, complain, and then keep at it. Same goes for support for state laws that prevent local government from collecting taxes, and then they complain about roads, services ...