The point is that it's a regional, not generational, problem.
The rust belt is rusty in the sense that easy to obtain and hold down factory jobs are no longer a thing.
If you have marketable skills, there is work pretty well anywhere.
Just like how if cushy tech jobs someday dry up in Silicon Valley there will still be work there, it just won't be a sure thing like it is now.
That's a cultural thing, and yes I'd assume that people tend to move somewhere that they feel culturally aligned with.
That is true whether you are moving to the coasts or away from them.
Akron, Ohio is up 7%. So is Cleveland, Madison, and Toledo. Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Scranton are up even higher. [1] These are figures from before the pandemic.
The idea that the rust belt has lots of cheap housing is outdated. That was true in five to ten years ago. It is not true today. You can expect to pay around $200k for a house in any given rust belt city with decent jobs -- and quite a bit more if you want to live in a nicer neighborhood or a nicer home.
[1] https://www.kiplinger.com/article/real-estate/t010-c000-s002...