I don't think he's arguing for rural, just expressing concern about the *biggest* cities.

> entertainment, variety, walkability, and many other benefits that rural places don't provide

I appreciate all of this as well, but at the end of the day, I moved to a city with 80x the population of my hometown because of a (specific) job. Rent is also significantly higher, and if I had to consume my savings to survive here, I'd surely move out. Entertainment and walkability have secondary importance compared to putting food on the table and saving for retirement.