Thanks for the link. I stand corrected regarding the cost difference. Though I still think the urban lifestyle comes at the expense of quality of life. It's wr

Thanks for the link. I stand corrected regarding the cost difference. Though I still think the urban lifestyle comes at the expense of quality of life. It's wrong to optimize for lower cost, which often means that other factors important for wellbeing are neglected. Being surrounded by concrete instead of nature has a detrimental effect to our psychological and physical health, with urban runoff being one problem[1]. The amount of air and noise pollution is usually higher in cities than in rural areas[2]. All urban conveniences aren't enough to make this worthwhile, though this is a personal stance, and others may disagree. And, yes, the suburban sprawl is also damaging to the environment. But we know much more today about sustainable infrastructure than we did in the 1950s. The same is true for cities, but it's a much larger effort to bring cities in balance with nature than rural areas. It's not just a matter of planting trees, and electrifying transportation. These are decade-long projects with enormous cost[3], and governments tend to drag their feet. In contrast, the environmental impact of suburbs can be lowered by relatively minor personal changes[4], which is much more manageable. I'm not claiming to be an expert in any of this, and ultimately my position is driven by a dislike of cities in general. But thanks for clarifying some of my misconceptions. This research was eye opening. [1]: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00853-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00853-4 [2]: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6613a1.htm https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6613a1.htm [3]: https://unhabitat.org/news/27-apr-2020/the-cost-of-making-a-city-sustainable-measuring-the-financial-cost-of-meeting-sdg https://unhabitat.org/news/27-apr-2020/the-cost-of-making-a-... [4]: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/how-to-be-more-sustainable-in-suburbia/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/04/how-to-be-more-sustai...