I suspect the car industry has a role. Also, these people live in the burbs, and their experience of driving into a city is their experience of the city. It's

I suspect the car industry has a role. Also, these people live in the burbs, and their experience of driving into a city is their experience of the city. It's one of the reasons they hate cities. Driving in is confusing and stressful. Add an alien system of congestion pricing involving some transponder they've never seen before and it's just too much for them. To the extent that the concerns are legitimate, I think we need to look at China, and at the way people were locked down in small condo blocks during COVID. There was a fear that the same tactics would be employed in "Western" countries. There is an irony, however, which is that self-contained condo blocks and "gated communities" are at least as prone to this as are organic grids. Y'know -- actual good urbanism. Finally, I think they do perceive, in their own way, the housing crisis. They recognize that housing is generally more affordable outside cities, so they see the push towards cities as a push towards renting and non-ownership. I would prefer more affordable housing within cities, but I can sort of understand this argument.