I agree. It comes down to that in a country of 300 million people, not everyone wants to live in fucking Arizona. There's millions that want to live in an actual large city, one with history and authenticity and walkability-A compact urban environment. There's not very many cities that fit that bill. And there's only a couple that sit on the main rail line between DC and Boston. If you want a compact urban environment, Chicago is kinda the only other spot that competes with the NEC, but it's in its own league and the center of its own nexus. Seattle ain't the bid, LA is it's own planet, and SF is out of reach and on the west coast. Certain types of people go to California. It's a whole different planet. A different kind of asshole ends up in Florida or Texas or Arizona. The NEC is mega city one, and we've got the nation's capital plus NYC within spitting distance.

I've been saying for years Philly has a bright future, despite the best efforts of leaders to fuck it up. And in general the rumors of the death of cities (during the pandemic) was wildly fucking exaggerated. We're sorting ourselves out, is all.