> My only point was that making cities more dense seems to make them more desirable You have it backwards, it is making the spot desirable that leads to them b

> My only point was that making cities more dense seems to make them more desirable You have it backwards, it is making the spot desirable that leads to them becoming dense. More people keep moving in, you build denser to accommodate them. Can you imagine how expensive NYC would become if 77% of current residences suddenly stopped being unavailable? Yes, you will have some non-linear effects, people do want to live in big cities where the action is, but the reason those cities exist in the first place is because the action's already there. New York is a massive hub of commerce and culture which is ultimately a consequence of it's position as a major port. You won't make it undesirable by decreasing density so long as its still the center of the financial world.