Whilst I can understand your sentiment, I think a better solution would be that American cities had decent-sized cheap accommodation that was also well served by public amenities.
That said, I live in the UK, and when it comes to houses the British population are just plain stupid, and they eagerly rush into ridiculous housing at ridiculous prices.
Many cities do, just not the ones most people would probably rush off too first… and it doesn't help with the increase in housing costs in "popular cities".
Due to a mixture of social shifts and demolitions/conversions, though, the remaining ones are generally extremely run down and verging on squalid, so it's not as much an option anymore. SF still has some SROs in the Tenderloin, but they are not particularly well-maintained or clean; the upper end of the residential-hotel category has been demolished or converted into condos or regular hotels.
I came to the comments hoping someone else felt this way, actually. I really, really wish micro-accommodation would become a thing in American cities.
I'm moving to San Francisco after I graduate next spring. I would love it if some sort of crossover between a co-working space, a Japanese airport "capsule hotel"[1] and a hacker house type environment existed.
The hacker houses that exist now sound like a nice idea in theory[2] (being around a bunch of interesting, like-minded people). In practice, however, trying to get some sleep in a place like that sounds like - well, a nightmare. Great when you first arrive and are meeting people and going to interviews or whatever - not really viable over the long term for someone like me who values his sleep.
In my mind, I see a place where I have:
* A clean, comfortably appointed, soundproof capsule for sleeping
* Access to a nice, luxury-gym-like shared bathroom
* Access to a co-working space / commons area for hacking
I'm not sure how realistic this is given government regulations, housing prices, the number of people interested in actually paying for such a place, etc. Sure would be cool though.
[1] - http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2011/01/12/1225986/0270...
[2] - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/technology/at-hacker-hoste...