Hm. Where I live, I built my house in the country. There were no rules, no inspections except well and septic by the county health department.
Maybe other counties have the resources to create bureaucracies. But her in the Midwest there's not the budget for creating elaborate rules, much less paying inspectors.
Not if there are visa requirements, no non remote job opportunities, or you have all your family in the current city you live, and they are potentially ageing, and your kids are in local school, or you dont want to quit current job, or you are so broke you cant get an initial land / dwelling funds in the target location.
Any of those and youve captured most of the working population of the US.
Sure, some folks have a hard time choosing where to live, I get it. If we're honest, most folks just live by default wherever. They don't want to change.
And you vastly overestimate the cost of living outside major cities. It's a tiny fraction of what you might imagine.
I think I agree, if we recast it as 'inertia', it captures most of the working population of the US.
Maybe other counties have the resources to create bureaucracies. But her in the Midwest there's not the budget for creating elaborate rules, much less paying inspectors.