The distance between Chicago and Minneapolis is slightly higher than the distance between Paris and Montpellier.
For those cities in France, the time travel from city center to city center is about 3 hours and half by train, with 2 stops on the way. It beats both car and air travel, since you can just to show up at the station 5 minutes before the train departs, and don't need to go through security.
Also, the cheap tickets cost less than 50 euro, and you can get between 25% and 50% discount if you are less than 25 years old.
Realistically you'll never get tickets that cheap unless you plan weeks in advance, though.
The French train system is expensive and too centralized. You'll find many examples of how great French trains are but everyone only ever talks about traveling to or from Paris. And sure, it's great and convenient for Parisians.
But when you want to connect two mid-size, non-Paris cities that are more than ~500 km apart, travel by train becomes a time-consuming and expensive affair. For instance, taking the train from Nancy to Grenoble costs about 120€ if you're lucky; it forces you to take a massive detour through Paris and change train stations there. Changing stations in Paris is stressful and takes at least half an hour - since there are no shuttles, you must take the subway (and change subway lines too!)
All in all, what should have been a 3 hour journey becomes a costly 7-8 hour ordeal, thanks to the extreme centralization of the French rail network. Many people are getting fed up with this -- carpooling across long distances is becoming popular because it can often be faster and much cheaper than rail!
Just an annecdote, it is possible to regularly get tickets that cheap if using igtv or ouigo. I was in Montpelier last month and found a ticket for 25€ to Paris.
I can't provide you with exact sources, but I recall the same thing happening in Mexican indigenous villages with coca cola. Coca cola would subsidise the drink so that it is much cheaper than local drinks. Villagers give up their local drinks for coca cola. Once it has a monopoly, coca cola raises the prices. Villagers are unable to get back to their local drinks which no one makes anymore, and keep buying Coke.
These kind of things generally happen over many years, and you generally take it as one of the good things in life. Unfortunately before you know it, you are already paying top dollars, you have a multinational making huge margins on your back, and not many ways to get out of it.
Also EU citizen living here for 2 years (so not entitled to the permanent residency).
I own a UK company and pay my share of taxes. Still I'm scared I'm going to be asked to leave at some point.
Also, if I go visit my family on the continent, am I going to be able to come back ?
The UK Prime Minister has said that she actually wants EU citizens to remain in the UK post-Brexit, but it is dependent on similar rights being granted to UK citizens in EU countries. It's not a decision wholly up to the UK.
As somebody who has been moving every year or two since I was 10, I am trying to force myself to stay in the same city/country for at least 5 years. Being in the same location enables you to develop a social network. Most of your basic needs are already solved (housing, job, visa, friend...), and you get to spend time focusing on other issues or hobbies. Moving places is an exciting thing. But you get lots of advantages by sticking somewhere.
For those cities in France, the time travel from city center to city center is about 3 hours and half by train, with 2 stops on the way. It beats both car and air travel, since you can just to show up at the station 5 minutes before the train departs, and don't need to go through security.
Also, the cheap tickets cost less than 50 euro, and you can get between 25% and 50% discount if you are less than 25 years old.