Your argument is self-contradictory - people are moving out of cities because they are expensive, which basically tells you everything you need to know about wh

Your argument is self-contradictory - people are moving out of cities because they are expensive, which basically tells you everything you need to know about where the real demand is (suburbs are super cheap everywhere except SFBA). They are forced into suburbs where they can actually afford the otherwise less desirable (and hence cheaper) houses (or outskirts of the cities, I know tons of people who live on the outskirts of Seattle and Bellevue in WA because they cannot afford to live more centrally in either). And the cities are expensive because the density in American cities is still laughably low. We live in Seattle and we had to settle for a house because the kind of a condo that I want simply doesn't physically exist. Yes, living in a condo next to 2.5 restaurants in a middle of single family zoned area is worse than living in a house - but that's due to lack of density, SFH areas simply suck. The dense land is extremely scarce, so all they build there are overpriced luxury condos - they can get away with that because the demand is huge.