I was in a discussion with various rural and urban folks about the benefits of each way of life.

The distinction that emerged was "stayers" vs "leavers"

Stayers stay in the environment they started in.

Leavers leave to find a better environment.

A benefit of stayers: you build deep connections with those around you.

You expect to be there indefinitely, so it makes sense to invest the time to see others around you as full-dimensional people and build trust and understanding.

Doing so helps you build a long-term perspective, grow, etc.

A benefit of leavers: you can go to your highest and best use.

You can sense where a different environment allows you to achieve more for yourself… and for society.

It turns out that density has super-linear returns to innovation; there's a benefit to moving to density.

But if you're moving where you live every 6 months, it doesn't make sense to invest in really getting to know your neighbors.

That takes time, and you'll be gone before any benefits arise out of it.

People invest an amount of time and effort proportional to how long they expect to be engaged in that community.

As people get more mobile in our society, the expected length of time in any in-person community is shorter, so we invest less in it.

Efficiency and innovation are in tension with community and long-term thinking.