Elizabeth Farrelly suggests that happiness is only a possible side benefit to the true goal of cities, which is "...getting stuff done and, more importantly, generating the ideas that get stuff done."
Farrelly pooh-poohs livability indexes, saying that cities are about work, and "should never be measured principally in(...) pleasure."
"In a good city, you can feel the ideas in the air. Just walking the streets is exciting because the backstory, the front story and side stories tickle your brain cells. A city is an intellectual adventure in a way that the 'burbs can never be," she writes.
Density, says Farrelly, is key to creating places that is full of ideas and work.
FULL STORY: Be happy, be more interesting, be dense
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