So like any person in tech I've seen the growth in second(and third) tier cities as viable places to live. The low rent and ability to build smaller businesses(cafes, rental properties, etc) without massive loans is a big sell. However the dynamism of bigger cities and the flywheel that they sustain draws me to stay.
What keeps you from moving to another city/town/etc(Or what made you move)?
What would you need in a smaller city(something like Boise,ID or Salt Lake City, or anywhere in the world that isn't "The place to be") to make the Jump?
The traffic, the people, just the non stop hassle of every day life would just totally grind me down. for me what you're calling First Tier is really just not something I would ever want to do, and I'd never consider that Tier One.
You'd probably consider my home here a Third Tier city, but I have non of the drawbacks and all of the positives here. It's maybe not quite as dynamic, maybe that flywheel here is a bit smaller, but everything else is easier, it's livable and easier to live here. I don't make $200/k a year, but I don't need to make that, or anywhere near that to afford a life that would never exist for me elsewhere, with money left over to go visit those Tier 1 places a few times a year.
So for me at least, family keeps me here more than anything, but if it didn't I'd still stick to 2nd or 3rd tier cities, life is so much easier here.