Is anyone actually surprised by this? The new era of prosperity for rural areas was never touted as a new era of prosperity for the folks who were rural already. The new era of prosperity for rural areas was always predicated upon having high educated or skilled knowledge workers leaving urban areas to go to rural areas. And in rural exurbs of large cities, we see this happening. Where knowledge workers are moving to rural areas for land and peace, but staying close enough to urban/suburban areas to maintain access to restaurants, medical facilities, and even job markets.