Connected people always existed. Maybe they connect nowadays more than they did before (but there is a biological limit to that, nevertheless), maybe they connect over greater distances than they did before given the technological means, but they were and are a minority (even if a loud one). The bulk of the populace are not like that. The bulk of the populace connect and live in a physically delimited place. Yes, you give them cars and make it easier with other forms of transportation, enlarging those limits, but that only produce results when it couples with an internal drive like a desire to travel, which again has its limits. Place proximity still holds a great weight in shaping human relations on a very broad level and that is a fact given by our human nature. &quot;Geography is destiny&quot; is here to stay, and so are all the local things that affect most of us.