The pandemic was not a normal situation. There are centuries of evidence about cities, pre- and now post-pandemic.

Some clear empirical data is housing prices: People are willing to pay far more to live in many cities than anywhere else, often for much smaller residences.

Different strokes for different folks. There's an attraction to having more space/less noise/etc. and being able to travel into a big city for activities without too much hassle/time. There's also an attraction to having a probably smaller place and just walk/cab/transit to those activities.

I ended up mostly gravitating to the former but I understand the attraction of the latter and, who knows, I may change my preference some day.

Probably because the things that make cities attractive were literally outlawed during COVID?

Framed differently, I think that for most people, jobs are the primary driver for urbanization.