Media can thrive on negativity and the economy can be in rough shape with young people not being able to buy a home or start a family. Just look at American fertility, it's more dramatic if you exclude first and second generation immigrants out of the number and see how large the delta is between the number of kids people want to have and the number they actually do
My current (purchased in 2015) home, with a view like Jackson Hole, cost a bit more than I paid for the first home in 1982 or so. Both in California. We were in our 30's so only one child, but that was location-independent. Both homes are/were three bedroom. WFH is pretty liberating for many.
People raise families and work here, and the kids get lots and lots of outdoor activity. At 74, I hike tails I cut out of brush daily, with some 100ft. (10 flights of stairs) elevation gain or loss. Ignore the negative things I had to say on a different HN post. For better or worse, Walmart and such are 50 miles away. Many people like that.
