Also missing: friends, family, and diversity.
As a non-white person in the US, most small towns are a non-starter for me because it's uncomfortable being the only non-white person in every room. I don't ascribe that to any malice on their part -- it's just an unfortunate reality. I think most people feel this way, regardless of their race.
> And, again, leaving the politics aside, this seems like a win-win
That's like saying "leaving safety aside" or "leaving authoritarianism aside"... you just can't. It might be the determining factor about whether a place is appealing.
We now have to contend with the fact that most of the inexpensive states will criminalize many aspects of family planning, the way they are criminalizing abortion. When my girlfriend gets pregnant, we will spend the pregnancy in a blue state for that reason (despite living in a red one now).
> small towns don’t want to be left behind
Why do you think this? It sounds like your definition of "left behind" is that they're not going to grow or be filled with young creatives. By that definition, a lot of small towns absolutely do want to be left behind.
Most of them seem to be filled with people who want their children to have more or less the same childhood that they had: similar vibe, quality of life, etc.
I can't speak for all small towns, but most small towns would probably not appreciate the developments you're describing. They might as well be started on a relatively uninhabited piece of land, like Serenbe and similar places were[1].