Of course it's true.
In addition, no one I know lives in Nirvana. It's kind of nice to earn a living, and most can't do that living on empty, rocky, wind swept plains with no jobs in sight.
If I could make a living living, support my family in a town of 200 people, 60 miles away from any economy to speak of, I might consider it.
But that isn't possible for me, and probably 80 percent of people.
That's why I said, the areas of good economies, good climates, harbors, resources, etc, etc are all but full up.
Why do you think empty, desolate land, far from any economy is generally dirt cheap?
Oh, poppycock. How about Russia, Georgia and the Ukraine ? All are resource rich, and woefully under populated, depopulating, in fact.
When people have more children, they'll be enough to fill them up, exploit their resources, and make all those good economies you are looking for.
People come first, then make the nice places to live and the good ecomonies; not the other way around.
Ever see a picture of Phoenix, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas before a lot of people lived there and made it all nice and green, with houses, stores, and well, economies ? It was barren desert, just like the pictures you decried. PEOPLE, and lots of them, made those nice places.
People are the ultimate resource, not the problem.