>This is also partially enabled by their extensive public transportation. It's much less of a problem to not be in the heart of the city when getting there cost

>This is also partially enabled by their extensive public transportation. It's much less of a problem to not be in the heart of the city when getting there costs ¥500 or less and is a ~30 minute ride that you're free to read, catch up on email, etc during. Don't forget, this commute is actually free for most commuters, because their companies pay for it. It only costs money to use the public transit if they stray from their normal commute route (and this is automatically calculated and handled by the system), or go somewhere on the weekend. So not only do Tokyoites not have to deal with car payments, insurance payments, maintenance costs, and fuel costs if they don't want to, just getting to work and back won't cost them anything but time. Plus they don't have to worry much about being killed or maimed on the way to work.