And there I think lies the problem. Cities have an economy of scale that rural areas can't match. In my opinion, living in a city should be cheaper. But land is finite and poorly utilized at the benefit of landowners.

I've long thought the same about London. How does a teacher, nurse, or policeman rent anywhere within a 60 minute commute?

Probably many delay having a family and are able to share a house, but eventually that's going to get old for a lot of people.

Europe as a whole has a large mitigating factor in that there is really good public infrastructure buses and trains there. Sure, an hour commute a day isn't preferable but if you can spend it reading or watching netflix it impacts your life a lot less negatively than having to drive a car the whole time.

So no, the baristas, janitors, etc of London can't live in London. But at least most of their commutes aren't as terrible as the majority of US workers driving individual cars over great distances every day to go to work.

It’s possible to rent as a single person or couple within a 1 hour commute, buying or bringing up a family is a very different proposition.