I’m not even talking about that. I’m imagining something more like LA county but with more trains and fewer cars. you mostly live and work within a 30 minute travel radius, but still visit friends and specialty shops in other nearby cores without too much trouble.
investing more into cities like buffalo would also be great, but I don’t think they could realistically become a first choice for people who enjoy the benefits of a large metro area.
I think that this is prevented in large part by local capture of state politics by leading cities. NYC money basically owns NY politics so NY will never neglect let alone screw NYC to the benefit of Buffalo and Albany and whatnot. Repeat for other states that have one or two big urban economic wells that run everything.