[mlrtime]

>Tokyo is simultaneously the most populated city on earth and one of the most quiet, clean, and least congested places I've visited.

Sorry, no this is culture. The same virtues exist in Japanese suburbs, nothing to do with a city.

[brailsafe]

"Partly why". It's just an example, I'm sure other cities are more hectic. I didn't get the impression that Japanese suburbs were particularly different than North American ones in terms of volume levels or how uninteresting they are.

It seems to me that it's mainly cars and a scarcity of places to be that make cities horrible and congested. More pollution, more noise, less space.