The LAST place in the country that one would expect to return to conservative ideals would be the northeast
Stopped me too...
Seriously. Read the book, even if you don’t agree with all the premises that have been laid down to drive the plot (I don’t either). Don’t get hung up on trivialities, investigate it for the deeper concepts.
MOST of the Northeast is NOT the Cities.
There is, for example, a REASON that Non-Philly and Non-Pittsburgh is often referred to as “Pennsyltucky”.
If something depopulated the BosWash Corridor, the Northeast would transform overnight. . .