The story of an ?urban exodus? was widely circulated following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. That narrative suggested that people moved en masse from large urban centers like New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to smaller cities and more rural areas after the pandemic set in. But how substantial ? and how enduring ? that trend was is a more complex story. 

To get an insider?s perspective, Automoblog spoke with several professionals who could offer a more personal take based on firsthand experience ? including Tsvetelin Savov, CEO of SGT Auto Transport, one of the country?s most popular car shipping companies. During our interview, Savov shared his observations about where people have been moving since the beginning of the pandemic, and spoke about how the car shipping industry as a whole has changed in the wake of COVID-19. 
?In the initial months, there was a significant increase in the number of vehicle shipments to smaller, rural areas as people began moving out of larger metropolitan areas and into more isolated locations,? he recounted. 

People Did Move From Bigger Cities to Smaller Ones

Over the last three years, the narrative that people left big cities to move to smaller neighborhoods during and after COVID-19 circulated widely in major U.S. media outlets. While there are nuances to that narrative, the fundamental conclusion has some validation. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland conducted a periodic stu...