Shift Away from Cities

13 Jan, 2026

As cities become more dense, they become less livable.

But there are good reasons people choose cities:

• Access to jobs
• Access to arts, culture, entertainment
• Memetic copying of other people
  • This shows up in sayings like “New York or Nowhere".

There will be a tipping point where people opt away from the largest cities - New York, San Franciscio.

This starts with remote workers that can use Starlink to move to low cost of land areas.

And will be accelerated by:

• Opening of new smaller towns that are more livable and have better opportunities to make money, raise a family, and buy land
  • Ex: Starbase, TX
• Better tools to find a location that uniquely works for you (and your family)
  • Example: I’m a 25 year old tech work that likes to trail run and ski. Find me somewhere that will allow me to do this where land is affordable.
    • Note: This may be already solved with Gemini
• If another pandemic makes living in the largest cities unsafe or un-fun
• Socialist-style tax policies that drive relocation

As I write this in Menlo Park (population ~32,000), I can’t help to think of the difference between living here and my time spent living in Civic Center.

In Menlo Park, I hear the birds, and feel comfortable walking around.

But I still can’t buy a house and for that I’d need to move someone off the beaten path.

And that’s what important about this.

Cities represent the default. The mimetic trap of thinking like everyone else and assuming that the crowd knows best.

I’m hopeful that new tools like Gemini will help folks choose differently.

Because there are better places to live than S.F. or New York.