City living means pretty much apartment living in the US. It's a problem, because neighbourhoods can be walkable and still feel spacious. There's some fantastic low rise downtowns in Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans,.... Problem is, there's so few of them that they've all become expensive and tourist destinations. If more cities were like this, I think people would like their city centers a lot better. Now, it's either the car wastelands of urban renewal in the middle of the country, or the insanity of massively crowded downtowns on the coasts. No wonder people prefer to move out.