I grew up in a rural area and moved back now that we're remote. The only time I've met a meth head was when a friend of a friend came back from college and you could tell he was doing meth (based on descriptions of what meth does to you from the internet anyway.)

You have to be picky, the area has to have an old culture that's still intact and hasn't been through some serious economic problems. If you go to eg West Virginia you're going to be dealing with meth heads. The general impression I get from this site is that people here won't like it because that means embracing religion.

> Moving to a rural area is very much greener grass syndrome.

The overzealous defence of rural areas is definitely a combination of this, people who actually made the move and can't admit they made a mistake, and those with nostalgia for the sort of location they grew up and left.

I suppose there's probably some people mixed in who legitimately prefer it and those who don't know anything else.

Not all rural areas are bad, but a lot of them aren't great.