it's not just you flying on the east coast, which is the only coast I can speak of. in fact, that's really the least of the concerns. If you have friends and family in Europe they are more likely to visited the east coast. I was able to meet up with people when I was in Baltimore. It's really a city situation though, not a coast situation. Had I lived in, say, Ocean City, Maryland, it wouldn't have been as easy to meet up with people. That said, cities are so much closer on the east coast. It is about a 6 hour drive from Minneapolis to Chicago. Basically thee same as Boston to Baltimore and you cross Philly and NYC in the middle...and then there's DC right there. After Minneapolis there's....Seattle. East coast has trains and buses. The buses from Baltimore to NYC are used frequently.

There's a separate thing going on with the Bay Area. Idk if people are headed back there.