> How/why do you not promote the growth of denser, middle class inner city neighborhoods with a diverse profile? Is there a positive reason to not encourage it?

> How/why do you not promote the growth of denser, middle class inner city neighborhoods with a diverse profile? Is there a positive reason to not encourage it? How do you do that? The US has the luxury of space that other countries don't and that space mostly is owned by the public and not federal, state, or local governments. - In the US, zoning and land use are typically managed at the micro level, not the macro level (city < county < state < country). - There's also a persistent threat of competition both at the state and county level. So most policy is about attracting residents and jobs, maintaining property values, etc. - Proximity to a major city impacts price so the further away you travel, the more home you get for the same price. - When people don't like how the local government is behaving, they'll hold a referendum and form a new city to escape regulation. If you look at a city like Atlanta, you see that upper middle class have moved further outward from the metro area with each decade to larger more expensive homes (e.g. Brookhaven -> Sandy Springs -> Roswell -> Alpharetta -> Cumming). They did this because as undeveloped property decreased it drove property values up so they were able to sell their homes and purchase larger but cheaper homes in undeveloped neighborhoods. The cycle repeats itself every 10 years or so.