[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it's not so much about calling things good or bad.

it's just the recognition that our society has wasted FAR too much time, effort, and resources building unbelievable shit-tons of this: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9373...7i16384!8i8192

when we could have continued right on building more of this like we used to a century ago: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9773...thumbfov%3D100

given how extremely in demand the latter is now becoming with so precious little of it to go around.

Well here is the deal though, most people live in urban environments when they are young and single. Many of those same people once they get older and have kids dont want to live in the city, and the VAST majority of them will move to single family homes, as unlike Europe or before ww2, living in a single family home and driving to work is still cheap to do.

in fact the very reality you stated, Urban neighborhoods being in demand, makes suburbs and a 20-30 minute commute via car or 45 minute commute via train even MORE desirable because its not only a "better environment" for families but cheaper too.

People who live in urban environments dont live there because they have to a la pre WW2 and they dont live there because its cheap, they live in urban environments because it is an active lifestyle choice just like its an active choice to move to a 55 and older community in suburban Florida or Arizona.

People in Europe dont live the way they do because they en mass want too, they live that way because owning property in Europe is expensive and hard to do, securing a mortgage in Germany or France is much harder than in America, owning a car is prohibitively expensive. And even in these places you get suburban growth because a small patch of land and a single family detached home is largely desirable. Even the hyper rich in urban areas have get away outside of the city and extremely private penthouse condos with their own elevator soaring 500 feet above the rabble on the streets. Spending obscene money to be in the middle of the city but still separated from that city.