It all depends on where you live...ya gotta have water...in a pool, or in a lake or a pond. With all the global warming, we’ll have much more water in the future.
Dude, where do you think people swim competitively? In a lake, river and/or ocean? Nope - competitive swimming is done in large, Olympic style swimming pools.
Where are these types of pools generally located? To answer this question, where are most large, public/civic type buildings located? You got it - the inner cities of every metro region in the US.
Show me a city with a population even under 50k, and I'll show you a central city pool, gym, H.S., library, etc.