When you argue for housing reform to legalize denser development in our cities, you quickly learn that some people hate density. Like, really hate density, with visceral disgust and contempt for any development pattern that involves buildings being tall or close together.
I moved from a small town to a large city and the cost of goods and services is almost doubled what it still is in the town I moved out of. There is more selection, sure; but it sure as hell doesn’t seem competitive when the 2 plumbers in the small town are still more affordable than any of the hundred or so in the city.