Redrawing The Map Of America

Citing affordable housing, strong employment growth, and a high quality of life, Joel Kotkin argues that cities in middle America are poised to overtake the star cities of east and west coasts -- a trend that he warns planners are largely ignoring. While one-fifth of Americans lived in the 30 most dense counties in 1920, only one ninth do today.

"The movement to the exurbs and beyond tells us something important about how most Americans

prefer to live. Contrary to the constant trumpeting of "a return to the city" and the madcap downtown condo explosion (which affects only a tiny proportion of U.S. families, though a big chunk of the chattering classes), most Americans-about four out of five-still want to own a single-family home."