I always thought it was a poor business decision by Boeing to abandon the 717 leaving an large opportunity to Airbus with the 220. The “small” 737 now can cram in over 170. The largest can hold 230.
The 717 also had the innovation of all fresh air instead of re-circulating cabin air, as I recall.
Good point. With the end of the 717 their really wasn’t any modern replacement for that narrower 2 + 3 config for shorter routes.