So how are rural communities experiencing forms of economic inequality that are distinct than economic inequality we see in cities and suburbs?

Oh, that's a great question.

Let me have a think here.

I think in some ways our small towns tend to be robbed of certain jobs more quickly than our cities, and they can have less of those opportunities for mobility.

So, so for example, one of the classic arguments in my field, and I think that this is, this has been a narrative in planning, in economic geography, in sociology, is that the rise of high-level producer services, right? So finance and accounting, law in major cities where you have this intense, um, need to be around each other and these high-paying jobs that essentially run the global economy, okay? So this narrative has been around forever.

You can replace some of those jobs with tech, but it's this idea that it's all in cities.

I think there's some, some real truth that those opportunities are more in cities than in small towns.

How might policymakers better understand rural aspirations rather than focusing on rural decline?