We Don't Have to Give In to Sprawl

It's been a great couple of decades for America's cities. Crime is down, real estate values are up relative to the suburbs, schools are improving, job growth is strong. Iconic companies are moving their headquarters from office parks to downtown. Long-held anti-urban attitudes have given way at least partially to a realization that walkable, transit-rich cities are healthier, more environmentally sound places to live than sprawling, car-dependent suburbs. Economists such as Enrico Moretti at the University of California at Berkeley have also documented how a few big cities with high concentrations of talent have become hugely productive innovative factories that drive the nation's economy.

But where are Americans actually moving? Still mainly to sprawling, car-dependent suburbs and exurbs.