[ghaff]

But it's far more satisfying to blame some change you don't like on $EVILCORP than a more complicated narrative that revolves around people as a whole preferred something different so it didn't really make sense for government/a company to keep pouring money into a pit to keep a small minority happy.

The story often goes that someone destroyed a fully operational system for profits when in fact the system was badly deteriorated and not really used a lot.

[tsudounym]

Do you REALLY think gasoline subsidies and government backed 97% LTV mortgages is a free market? People were coaxed out of cities with very generous subsidies as well as race baiting (redlining)

[ghaff]

People moved out to the suburbs for a lot of reasons--not least of which was the post-war baby boom. The US government certainly didn't discourage it (though they were arguably pursuing policies the majority of the population wanted) and the exodus added fire to a self-reinforcing cycle of urban problems (including race-related ones)which lasted at least through the 1980s. And arguably we could see movement out of at least some cities again.

I'm not especially pro-suburbia--I live in an exurban/almost rural location. But I think it's perfectly understandable why many people wouldn't live in a city given a choice which they increasing had post-WWII in the US.