[Kudzu_Bob]

In America, the ruling elites have ways of keeping out the rabble by means of making city life both costly and difficult.

[snowwrestler]

City life is costly and difficult precisely because so many people freely choose to live there.

[Kudzu_Bob]

This New York Times article discusses not only why it is so hard for poor people to live New York but also why the cost of living for the affluent is lower there than elsewhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/who-says-new-york...