[screye]

Story of America. There's a reason only this continent has excessive sprawl.

Ideally, rural areas pay up. Good forcing functions for change. Maybe people move closer together (similar to European villages) or they become energy-independent (solar panels).

If that's politically untenable, then I'd like to see the cost reflected as a city2rural subsidy. Cities get enough hate in the US. I'd like explicit recognition of their generosity.

[xp84]

I could not agree more. Hiding true costs of our choices in other things breaks the ability of the market to signal what is an economic choice.