> Strongly disagree on virtually every point, and this seems to be a common refrain I hear from those seemingly trying to convince themselves as much as anyone why the sky-high cost of living in certain areas of the country is worth paying.
I'd argue on the cost of living front that you'd be better off being in a expensive area, because you can always downgrade COL, rarely upgrade :).
> But these days, even in medium sized Midwestern cities there is typically more variety in cuisine, entertainment, and cultural options than the average person can actually utilize
Frankly, you need to spend more time in the Bay Area / LA or the NYC area with people who like food. The food scene is just incomparable to anywhere else in the US (or my native France).
> And with global warming, the Midwest is generally getting less cold in the winter, while HCOL areas like those out west are getting regular wildfires, record breaking floods, and extreme heat waves
Those things happen for less than a month a year. Compare that with the climate of the midwest, where it goes from "super cold" to "unbearably hot", with a few months of nice spring/fall if you're lucky. Super obvious if you look at https://weatherspark.com/y/557/Average-Weather-in-San-Franci... vs say https://weatherspark.com/y/12083/Average-Weather-in-St.-Loui... . Not to mention the mosquitos.
If you never go outside (which frankly is a thing a lot of suburban Americans do), it doesn't matter, but if you're into hiking, sailing, surfing, skiing, or just eating outside on your patio, California just can't be beat. There's a reason you see folks from all over the world moving here and not to Missouri.