You have it backwards. We DO grow by establishing new "small towns" (better known as "housing developments" or "mixed-use developments"). Increasing density in

You have it backwards. We DO grow by establishing new "small towns" (better known as "housing developments" or "mixed-use developments"). Increasing density in a way that resembles older "small town" development would certainly be preferable, but is difficult with the transit policy status quo in much of the country. TODs are an example of attempts to do so anyway, with mixed results. The uncomfortable truth of our housing policy woes is that they're intertwined with transit policy and everything connected to that (American manufacturing and business, energy, political legacies, etc.).