Your last sentence is literally saying the same thing, the reason they are less dense (today) is because of preference for cars. Most city centers that develope

Your last sentence is literally saying the same thing, the reason they are less dense (today) is because of preference for cars. Most city centers that developed before cars are much denser than the rest of the city. Routinely these parts were hallowed out for parking and often were where the poor (read black and immigrant) people lived.