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How many of you know someone, maybe yourselves, who said

"This small town sucks! There's nothing to do here, it's all old people/conservatives/rednecks! I'm going to move to NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago"

Then a whole generation moves away and goes somewhere else, paying high rent and getting further debased by living in a big city full of assholes.

They may return to their hometown for holidays but they look down their nose at the locals because of how uncivilized and uncultured they are.

"Four dollars for organic strawberries? In The City, I can get biodynamic fiddleheads picked by a shaman for a dollar!"

These people might have contributed to the improvement of their home towns before, and helped their elderly parents, but instead they leave it all to rot while they selfishly galavant in a big city that doesn't know them.

Small Town America decays, while the cancerous big metros grow larger.

The closest term for this I can think of is Brain Drain, though it's worse than that.

I see the old-timers left behind, they show me pictures of their grandkids living in Texas. Grandma would be happy to give them free childcare, no sheboons giving the kid benedryl, but no. "Austin is better"

Those big cities and other places may have once had a culture of their own, til every wayward 20-something with a half-sleeve moved in.