Even in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which have much higher density than NYC and the best public transit system in the world, people still use cars and like having pa

Even in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which have much higher density than NYC and the best public transit system in the world, people still use cars and like having parking space. The product you're selling - public transit and high density walkable neighborhoods - isn't very appealing to most people. Public transit is slow, dirty, and dangerous. Neighborhoods without enough parking just force people to Uber everywhere or take public transit, raising the cost of living and wasting people's time. Smaller, hyperlocal grocery stores have inferior selection, higher prices, and worse quality than places like Costco. And these aren't problems you can fix with more funding. Public transit is slow because NIMBYs block trains from running at high speed in most neighborhoods. It's dirty and dangerous because there is no political will to screen riders or to arrest vagrants. Smaller grocery stores suffer from inferior economies of scale, so they never will compete with places like Costco in price. The price of basic goods like bananas in a bodega type store is triple what it would be at Costco. $1.29-1.99/lb for bananas vs. $0.50-0.70/lb at Costco. And the Costco bananas will be bigger and in better condition than the ones at the bodega. Make the comparison with baked goods like muffins or croissants and it's no contest.