The more I travel, the more convinced I am that the American experiment with car oriented cities was a disaster that will take untold billions of dollars to rectify. It's affected everything from public safety (e.g. police can no longer walk a patrol), to loss of community (people don't really shop in the same place they live), lost productivity (stuck in traffic), and on and on and on.<p>I'm very encouraged by recent, walkable focused, mixed-use development around mass transit stops in the DC area. If they're successful, they could quickly pay back the tax dollars spent getting the transit built, and lead to a model for development in the U.S. In other words, they're building more classic European style city centers, but as all new construction, and even better, informed by the mistakes and success of the last few decades.<p>I'm not sure it would ever get rid of the suburb (there's too many reasons to not want to raise your children in the city), but there's innovation there too. Many newer suburbs are being built with walkability in mind, usually with a small commercial core with groceries, a coffee shop, laundry and a few restaurants, many have mass transit shuttle stops and commuter lots nearby and with telecommuting becoming more common, there's less of a need to make the daily drive. I live in a suburb like this and have at least a dozen restaurants (from fast food to high end), two coffee shops, laundry, a gym, a Tae Kwon Do school, a bike shop, 2 ice cream parlors, a grocery, a movie theater a couple salons, a music shop, a medical practice, dentist, chiropractor, orthodontist, optometrist, liquor store, a bank and more within a short, comfortable 5-10 minute walk from my house. I'm also surrounded by green space and parks, schools and swimming pools are walkable and we're planning on building out space for a public library and other amenities soon. I telecommute most days and if I have to go to work I take the bus into the city. Other than my weekly client site visits I pretty much don't drive my car. In my region, this development model accounts for easily 40-50% of the new developments.<p>European cities aren't without problems (awkward living accommodations in old buildings, lack of handicapped or elderly accessibility, etc.), but remind us that before the auto lobby took over and screwed up urban design, cities could be built to high density, very livable, very human scale and that doing so makes wonderful places to live and work.