Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier

A typical parking space can often be more than 120 square feet—about the size of a standard work cubicle. Bringing a car to work essentially doubles the amount of space that someone needs on the job.

Out of America’s total housing stock of 128 million units, only a little more than 3 million are recreational second homes.

I doubt that I would be in the suburbs if it weren’t for the antiurban public policy trifecta of the Massachusetts Turnpike, the home mortgage interest deduction, and the problems of urban schools.

All those electronic interactions are creating a more relationship-intensive world, just as improvements in steam engines led to a more coal-intensive economy, and those relationships need both e-mail and interpersonal contact.

By redirecting water from farm areas to cities, California could easily provide enough water to sustain much higher density levels, which would reduce America’s carbon footprint.

Americans emit about 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide per person per year.