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That last part is, I think, the key problem. People don't have to live near each other to work together anymore, and that was the last thing giving cities a reason for being.
Walkable cities are pretty great. So is public transit. So is having enough people that you can have subcultures (art stuff, music scenes, queer spaces, etc). Cities have many reasons for being.
If I have to be in a city I'd rather it be walkable with public transit. But since I don't have to be in a city for work they're just nice things for people who still live in cities. If the city stopped existing it wouldn't matter if it was walkable and had mass transit.
Culture is really the only reason I go to a city, but I don't think that's enough to sustain them economically. Especially because there's vast Internet subcultures and you can stream concerts to your house.
Streaming a concert to your house is really not the same experience at all as going to a concert. There are still many things that can't really be replicated on the internet. During the pandemic my job tried to do an online dance party and it was extremely sad. Also I remember reading an interview with someone who ran events professionally, and the interviewer was like "What can't you do online?" and the interviewer just replied "Have sex with people."
Cities have been a thing since nearly the dawn of history. We might need to rethink some parts, like making them less car-focused, but I'm confident they'll be around.
I agree totally that cities have been a thing since the dawn of history. But now that we don't need to hire street urchins to run messages to people anymore there's one less thing pushing people into them.
And cities aren't very nice, even the nice ones. Dealing with strangers is not fun. There is a line for everything. Everything is twice the price. The subway never, ever, ever smells good.
But that's me, and every four years I learn how weird I am. So maybe cities have a hope. Which would be nice because the exurbs are plowing under a lot of nice farmland.
I mean, different strokes, I guess. I love living in new york. I'd say it's perfectly nice.
The lines and prices aren't as any worse than when I lived in NJ. The subway is fine. Especially the ones that are above ground. But more importantly you can walk places. Like, I walked out of my apartment to do some christmas shopping today. I stopped at a target, a discount shop, looked at some other independent places. No unusual lines. And then I got a slice of pizza (veggie slice, pretty big. it's basically a meal) for $4 from a place on the corner. Doing that out in the 'burbs would've been a ton of driving, traffic, and parking, plus I'd be less likely to casually poke into an interesting looking shop.
Also I like when there's people around. Whenever I'm out in the suburbs and there's no one out and about, it feels like a horror movie. I feel safer when there's people around.
Don't get me wrong: I don't want to live in the suburbs either. There's still too many people and instead of lines of people they're lines of cars. They're awful.
I want a hole in the side of a mountain, where I can look out on a dark night and see no lights except the stars. Where there's no human within earshot, and it's a ten mile walk to get to anything resembling a store.
Humans are the most dangerous animals on the planet and I don't feel safe with them as neighbors.
That's how my boss at work feels. He's a cool guy. He takes a train for a few hours to come into the city for work when he has to, but he's much happier at his house by the lake.
And I'm totally fine with you living in a mountainside. It'd be weird if I objected.
What I don't like is when, like, the four people living in a mountain have the same political weight as four million people living in a city. (Hyperbole on the numbers). Or when people are like "We can't spend money on maintaining the subway in the city, we need to focus on stuff that benefits fewer people". Or when people act like the countryside is "real America" despite millions more people living in cities. But I'm getting off topic.
A couple years ago I had a nasty bike accident in Brooklyn. My own fault. Was lost, hit the curb weird and just flew off the bike. And a bunch of people just came out of the background to see if I was okay. When they realized I couldn't stand up, one of them called an ambulance and stayed with me until they came. He even gave me his phone number in case I needed anything. (I'm fine now, though I have a big scar and the one arm isn't as good as it used to be)
If that had happened in the suburbs where my parents live? Very likely no one would have been there to help. Way out in the country? Even less likely.
I saw a lady trip and fall down the stairs at the subway. Dropped all of her stuff. A bunch of people came running out to help her up and collect her stuff. (She was fine. Or fine enough to walk away, anyway)
I dropped a grocery bag on the subway once. Everyone helped me get my stuff back.
So yeah, people are dangerous, but also a lot of the time they're pretty good.
I don't want any political power. I want to be left alone with my woodland friends. I won't even take the train into the city. As a matter of fact, please tear up all transit to my mountain hole. Then nobody can get there and I'll feel even better.