https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/u...ties.html?_r=0
Interesting little article about "densifying" cities. As the lede says:
"Be skeptical when you hear about the return to glory of the American city — that idealized vision of rising skyscrapers and bustling, dense downtowns. Contrary to perception, the nation is continuing to become more suburban, and at an accelerating pace. The prevailing pattern is growing out, not up, although with notable exceptions."
and
"Seattle urbanized the most: Faster growth in the city’s neighborhoods meant that average neighborhood density was 3 percent higher in 2016 than in 2010.
Among the sprawling majority, San Antonio and Austin spread out the most: In both cities, average neighborhood density fell by 5 percent between 2010 and 2016. All of the metro areas where density fell the most were in the Sun Belt, including Las Vegas, Houston, Dallas and Orlando. These sprawling metro areas are also showing faster overall growth than the urbanizing metro areas."
So even with our downtown going verticle by leaps and bounds, we're still spreading out at one of the fastest rates in the country. Kind of a bummer, honestly.