In terms of total cost, cities are much, much cheaper than either rural or urban sprawl development. The costs look high up front when you consider a 50 story c

In terms of total cost, cities are much, much cheaper than either rural or urban sprawl development. The costs look high up front when you consider a 50 story condo building will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but then you recognize it will house several thousand people and contain a majority of the infrastructure for their lives internally and suddenly the per-person costs are paltry compared to maintaining an entire town for the same number of people with roads, utilities, sanitation, maintenance, etc. Maybe telecommuting can bring down this endless nimby fantasy of investment properties to finally kill draconian zoning that prevents building to meet demand and changing times. Then we might see growing cities that are also affordable be the norm and not the exception. The problem with SF et al is the pressure to resist change in these cities due to nimbyism and zoning, which means they cannot adapt to demand and thus prices inflate.