The biggest problem in the US is that you need to simply shut down places below a certain size. We don't need a town near every shuttered coal mine, for example.

However, until strongtowns can figure out a politically palatable way to convince the denizens of these kinds of towns to shut down and move, it's just ranting into the breeze.

I mean, look at what it took to get people out of Centralia, PA where you could die suddenly and miserably.

Good luck with anything less draconian.