# Is it possible to have an ultra dense city that has a low cost of living?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-an-ultra-dense-city-that-has-a-low-cost-of-living/772124>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 16, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-an-ultra-dense-city-that-has-a-low-cost-of-living/772124 "2016-11-16T02:32:06Z")\
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**Author:** ![Salvor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-to-have-an-ultra-dense-city-that-has-a-low-cost-of-living/772124/1 "2016-11-16T02:32:06Z")

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I am thinking specifically of the US, not a third world country. Take a city with the population density of New York. Now double/triple it.

Or instead of that, Take Los Angeles as it is, but have every home and apartment have twice the square feet in real estate.

Would more supply just fill up to the point where no matter how much supply you had, the cities would remain costly places?

I am trying to think of novel ways of accelerating the move and desireability and economic feasibility of moving to cities. I want to see rural strongholds emptied out and stripped of whatever shadows of population they have left beyond the bare essentials. Saving that, I’d like to see the urban centers we know as cities expand outward to encompass more area.

If the cities are to be the liberal stronghold, and rural america is the home of conservatives, I want to drain the swamp of conservatism and make it FAR more desirable to move to the city, I want better economic prospects than there are now, I want the decision to stay rural to be so destructive that even the Sarah Palins of the world will strap on rocket boots to move to modernity.

Is it doable? In the foundation series, the starting world was a giant City PLANET, the entire thing was one giant city. We are not going there, but can’t we take over more of the landscape, or increase the magnet of modernity and city life for the rural holdouts?

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