Smaller cities in rural areas are really a massive opportunity. Farther away from where capital is concentrated, so they’re so much cheaper, but as long as there’s at least 10k people there (preferably 50k+), you can have a lot of culture and economic diversification. You get to actually have commonalities with your neighbors besides a sports team, and you don’t have to drive past 50 miles of suburbs to get out into nature; this often means the air quality is better.

Cutting off the people that live way out on their own is fine though. Getting rid of rural broadband sounds like solid policy.