The Political Conflict of the Decade

Grist talks with Steffen about cities, suburbs and exurbs. He sees little hope for sustainability in the outer rings.

"Q. So there's no point trying to show outer-ring suburbanites this future is in their interest?

A. One of the real problems is that we've spent the last ten years trying to convince that group that there is a vision of this future that is going feel to feel OK to them. I'm no longer convinced that there's a vision of the future that will ever feel OK to them.

But there are so many more winners than losers in this fight that it's a smart fight to take on. We are becoming an urban planet. We are already an urban country. When you add together cities and inner-ring suburbs and allied small towns, it's a solid majority of Americans."