> Why is it that suburban living is so much cheaper? Because density costs a lot of money. Density raises land values, which costs residents more money. Densi

> Why is it that suburban living is so much cheaper? Because density costs a lot of money. Density raises land values, which costs residents more money. Density requires better construction and better construction materials, which costs residents more money. Density allows for better serviced neighborhoods (closer to retail, closer to public services, closer to amenities), which are more desirable, which costs residents more money. Transportation becomes more expensive (once you factor in opportunity cost) which costs more money. Taxes are higher, to support extra services suburbs don't have or need, which costs residents more money. Density has lots and lots of great positive benefits, in terms of land use and environment and such. But it has a huge cost drawback, that most people ignore, and which drives much of the development of sprawl. It's not that suburban living is cheap. It's just way cheaper than urban living, which is crazy expensive (even in "low-cost-of-living" Midwest cities, urban living is usually 2x to 3x the cost of the suburbs).