[marcell]

FWIW, Tokyo's density is only 3x that of Mt View:

Mt View: 2,300/km2

Tokyo: 6,224.66/km2

[DoreenMichele]

And everything I've heard indicates it has remarkably afffordable housing for a big city. A quick search turned up this article, for example:

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/08/lai...

Seems like "becoming Tokyo" would be an improvement. (But I still find the comparison hyperbolic and ridiculous. It sounds like a deluded scare tactic, frankly.)

[bane]

This is an excellent video on the subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv6SbFlZMbU

Short answer: a decent house for a family can be had for about $400k in Tokyo and that's considered expensive.

[consp]

My city (Delft) has about the middle of that: 4500/km2 and both public transport and cars work fine.

[tathougies]

To be honest, as a formwr mountain view resident, mountain view also 'works fine'.

[chrisco255]

Hmm, I would be a bit skeptical of that figure without observing incorporated city limits and how far out they extend. Sometimes population figures include the "metro area" as well.

[hkmurakami]

This is a very good point, as there are western regions of Tokyo that after much lower density than central Tokyo. A good measure may be to look at the density in Minato-ku.

[cthalupa]

Minato has a population density of 10850/km2, Shinjuku of 18500/km2, Meguro of 18900/km2, and Nakano wins out at 20,700/km2. (Nakano winning surprised me. It's pretty low-rise for Tokyo!)

[hkmurakami]

Wow did not expect Nakano to be so dense. Maybe more apartments compared to the other zones.