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People flock to cities now for the same reason they've always flocked to cities - jobs. If you don't need to live in a city to work there, that may make many pe
by Houshalter 10y ago
People flock to cities now for the same reason they've always flocked to cities - jobs. If you don't need to live in a city to work there, that may make many people move.
And yes young people might prefer to live in denser cities. But when they grow older and have a family, they prefer to move out into a town or suburb.
And beyond that, it's just economics. Cities are expensive. They are inefficient economically. Rent is high, they have higher taxes, and the cost of goods is higher. If you could live outside the city, and conveniently travel there whenever you need to, you could save a huge amount of money.
- eru 10y agoCities are crazy efficient economically. Provision of infrastructure and goods is much cheaper in cities. Commuting sucks (and is one of the few clear drags on happiness that persist, unlike becoming a quadriplegic). Cities are also more productive. But: cities are financed wrong in most countries. They could easily finance themselves from land value taxes.
- Houshalter 10y agoCities are more efficient in theory. In practice, for whatever reason, they tend to have higher costs of living, taxes, and more congested infrastructure/traffic. Until that changes people may be better off economically living away from them.
- TheCoelacanth 10y agoIn practice, money is siphoned away from cities to subsidize suburbs making the cities more expensive.
- tamana 10y agoCities are expensive because city dwellers pay the taxes and fees that build the suburbs.