Wouldn't normalizing *not moving* be damaging for people who *don't live* near major academic centers? Surely the locals have an advantage, and if a large percentage of PD are local, how much of a chance would the outsiders have? I'm not saying things are ideal now, but every policy has costs.

Flatten the academic landsacpe, so local universities are on par with "major academic centers." Remote affiliations: someone lives and teaches in the midwest, has a research affiliation at Harvard. Right now privileged PhD candidates live elsewhere when done with classes & zoom for required contact.