For more than a century following the Industrial Revolution, rural and small-town young people left home to pursue survival in commercial metropolises. According to the American story, those who【C1】_____in urban centers had “made it”—a capitalist triumph for the individual, a damaging loss for the【C2】__he left. We often refer to this as “brain drain” from the remote areas,【C3】_____that those who stay lack the merit or ability to “get out”. But that old notion is getting dusty.

The nation’s most populous cities—New York and Los Angeles—are experiencing population【C4】_____, most likely【C5】__by unaffordability. Last year, a Gallup poll found that【C6】__roughly 80 percent of us live in urban areas, respondents most wished for a 【C7】_____life.

If【C8】_____is what they seek, those folks are onto something. A 2018 study found that【C9】_____economic and health concerns, most rural Americans are pretty happy and hopeful.

Forty percent of rural adults said their lives had come【C10】________better than they expected.

As for cultural woes, those among them under age 50, as well as people of color, showed notably higher acknowledgment of discrimination and commitment to social progress.

【C11】_____, it was a picture not of a dying place but one that is【C12】_____.

This return—or【C13】_____to leave—is good news for Americans who will happily remain in cities: Rural spaces are【C14】__with suburban and urban areas by way of food production, natural resources, the economy and beyond. Policymakers have【C15】__an unprecedented spate of progressive rural policy plans. They suggest actions【C16】__which many rural leaders have argued-investing in rural people and economies to lead a Green New Deal,【C17】_____oppressive middlemen in moving food from producers to eaters and much more.

The concept of home is subjective. But we have long interpreted it at the【C18】_____of forces such as capitalism and industrialization. The resulting social imbalance is a(n)【C19】__crisis. Mobility is a virtue of freedom. Staying-or returning-is a(n)【C20】_____virtue.

【C4】