Yeah, numerous commenters from the North East came to point out how wrong I was about their town. I wasn't talking about visiting the burbs, and neither were they but I agree, there are a lot more big box stores in large suburbs.

What I was really getting at is if they're missing small mom and pop stores, that's most of what the town I grew up in had (specifically in the South, but the Midwest isn't that much different.) I was encouraging them to get out of the city and see the rest of America. Living in big American cities has been a bit soul-sucking for me and not at all reflective of the rest of America, but obviously there's a lot of pride that some people hold for them.