These sorts of anecdotes don't really mean anything to me. If you don't like small towns to the point that you're going to fly to NYC every weekend, then yes, it would all seem a bit pointless working in one.
> I make 6-figures in a small city doing IT. It is absolutely possible.
I never said it wasn't possible, but it isn't even remotely normal, unless you have a different idea of small city than I do.
Let me give you an example: for a bit my dad did IT for a local school system (elementary + high school) and made a little under $40k. And he wasn't underpaid for that job in the area. The "top" IT guys with bigger clients would pull about $60k, which was considered a very good salary for the area (and indeed it was, when a nice house could be had for not more than double that).
End of the day, you need to specialize in an area that valuable to the organizations in the area. You may need to travel. Small-scale IT is become alot more automated and service-based, so jack of all trades roles are really competitive.
So you may not be making $150k, but you're also insulated from the boom/bust cycle that permeates places like Silicon Valley, SFO, and to a lesser extent NYC. It all depends on what is important to you...
I make 6-figures in a small city doing IT. It is absolutely possible. I'm not working for Google, but that isn't something that I lose sleep over.