I think you might be missing the fact that it's an airborne virus at pandemic levels. Regional restrictions can't work because people can just move and spread it everywhere, including places where local inhabitants don't want to "accept the risk".

Why would anyone who wants freedom move into an area where people are forced into isolation?

They don't need to move there to spread risk, just move through, and as such tourism is one factor.

Early in the pandemic, I had an assignment to photograph in a particular area that was actively dissuading visitors, had signage up as such, etc. I had to stop to refuel the car, but that was the extent of my contact with people and interiors otherwise.

I live in a state that had closed borders for most of the pandemic until recently (when our adult vax rate hit 80%). They're now open and cases are predictably rising. Opening the borders seems to have had a political backlash because while families can move in/out of the state, the rising cases has brought about business lockdowns but without the support/stimulus from last year.

Because their family is there, or because there's better work there, or they like the weather better or any number of reasons.

We don't have the "freedom to choose [our] own level of acceptable risk" in a lot of areas. So that's obviously not a point anybody is really, honestly concerned about.