Conversely, it may be the rise of internet business that brings people back to small towns in the coming years.
The Wallymart model, big box stores and shopping malls are just modern examples of what's been driving people to cities for thousands of years, improved access to jobs, goods and services. In some instances the bigger is better system works.
But we all know bigger doesn't intrinsically mean better. Cities get overcrowded, congestion overpowers the benefits of proximity. They'll never sell enough Airbus A380's to make back the money they spent building them because people don't want to have to travel through centralized hubs anymore. Shopping malls are turning into ghost towns.
People in cities have long complained of the lack of feeling of community, of place, of belonging, that small towns have naturally.
With internet business, you have access to most of the same same commodity goods as everybody in the city but you don't have to deal with the crowds. It may take an extra day or two for delivery, but that's a small price to pay for open space and belonging to a community. Since much of the stuff that used to motivate people to move closer to big retail spaces can be delivered, fewer people will feel the need to be in the city.
Local businesses can concentrate on what's best kept local, services, locally specific goods, perishables, products you need to see and sort though up close and personal.
People once flocked to the suburbs to escape the city life but keep the city jobs. Anyone working in an online profession can live anywhere they want.