we're more of a soybasket these days

I just wanted to say that the Midwest is cool and not flyover country as some coastal liberals might believe. Cleveland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, all cool cities. The Midwest is the breadbasket (ok, cornbasket) of the country too, and keeps me full with cheap processed foods, so thank you.

https://www.oecd.org/cfe/regionaldevelopment/United-States.pdf

Yes, there is much going on in terms of communication between urban centres and areas around them. What you write besides that is true, too, of course. But it is also cheap cause of subsidies and a bit of imperial power as well as colonial past.