Suburban Sprawl Reaches the End of the Cul-de-Sac

"The suburbs were a great idea that worked really well for a long time, but they overshot their mandate," says Gallagher in summarizing the central thrust of her new book.

"We supersized everything in a way that led many people to live far away from where they needed to be and far away from their neighbors, and that has far-reaching implications, no pun intended. People have turned away from that kind of living. Add in the demographic forces that are reshaping our whole population, and the result is a significant shift. Census data shows that outward growth is slowing and inward growth is speeding up."