Nothing is more damaging to adults or children than lives in remote isolation with delusions of Swiss Family Robinson self-sufficiency on government road, school and mortgage subsidies. We must stop claiming any normalcy to that post-Eisenhower makeshift accounting fiction. Lives in remote isolation are one of the reasons business formation is so low in the United States. Shyness is never any value. Shy people are takers.
Transit may be wasted time, but for the vast majority of people, that transit consists almost entirely of going to and from work. Living in smaller cities or suburbs means that your transit time for everything outside of work will be roughly the same as someone living in a big city. So, if remote work were to be the norm, the wasted transit time is eliminated. I for one agree. The idea that you and others seem to believe in where anything outside a major city is an apocalyptic hellscape that is "more damaging to adults or children" than anything else is not just melodramatic, its pure fiction, and like the OP, is a viewpoint I imagine is only held by a (very) vocal minority.
North Americans who buy homes move every 7 years on average. We have troubles building value in places where people stay over generations to enjoy it. Even educators are learning that "tickets out" is too abstract a target to motivate remote kids to study in schools. We inherited our little patches of planet and histories, but we should not normalize our current widespread displacements. Folks are migrating to specific places for different reasons we can examine on maps. Other folks in tons of places have troubles making a go of where they are for reasons we understand and cannot fix. [Edit: grammar]
Could not disagree more. (Young) people move to cities for vibrancy, culture, and to be around each other.
(Tho worth it)
Perhaps most importantly my children spend almost zero time in cars, and will be afforded a freedom that I never had as a suburbanite child...the freedom to go where they want without the explicit accommodation of an adult with a drivers license. It’s also helpful for kids to be afraid of things that can likely hurt them, like cars, and not afraid of things that aren’t likely to hurt them, like black people, gay people, foreign languages, or atheists.
The freedom afforded to teenagers by being able to safely bicycle on dedicated bike paths is hard to beat.
And what's culture? Saying somewhere doesn't have culture makes as much sense as saying you don't have an accent. Where I grew up there's locally made apple cider and other apple products, good farmer's markets, locally butchered meat, the colleges have all the "arts" stuff going on that you'd want if you're into that, and there are great authentic Mexican restaurants everywhere.
Being around people as a mandatory part of the living space isn't really for me.
Maybe I'm just out of touch with the other "young people" my age but I've been to a few cities and I can't say I was exactly "captivated."
Living isolated far away from civilization might be appealing to some, but I'd put money on the idea you're the minority. Growing up in the suburbs was a black mark on a generation and I think most of us aren't looking to subject our children to that. Aside from the space (which I'll never understand; who wants to have more shit to clean and maintain) I can't see any benefit to leaving the city.
There's less crime, driving is viable (what do you do if you want to bring home a large item from a store in a city?), your surroundings are actually nice to look at, it's quieter, establishments aren't crowded, some people don't like walking all day, you can play loud music or whatever in your home without a noise complaint if you don't live right next to anyone, and privacy in your yard, for a few examples.
What's special about city food? That it's more expensive? Calling small towns "away from civilization" is so disingenuous that it seems intentional. I've gone over this in another response, but do you really believe there isn't nice food and events out there?
Less crime in absolute maybe, but it's a toss up as to crime per-captia. Driving being viable is just a twisted way of saying driving is required; a strong con for many people including myself (and eats away at all of those real estate savings when you've got car payments and insurance). You just buy online and ship for most large items; rent a van for everything else. Lack of walking is another con; there's a reason the south sports 40% obesity rates.
The special thing about "city food" is the diversity. Small populations can't support a plurality of niche restaurants and vendors.
Being "away from civilization" I'll admit is subjective, but I don't think at all disingenuous. In the city we have touring bands, brand new stage productions, top of the line art museums, screenings of foreign films, a thriving music scene, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to meet and learn from people from all over the world. Giving that up for an HOA and yard work seems like a raw deal.