First, we need to acknowledge the fact that not everyone has the same version of the "American dream." While earlier generations shunned the city and moved to the suburbs in droves, younger Americans are showing a preference for more urban settings. Neighborhoods based on traditional urban design are quite successful. Cities with dense, walkable residential neighborhoods are immensely popular and carry the price premium that goes along with that popularity. Newer cities, from Denver to Dallas, that have replicated the principles of urbanism with transit oriented developments have also found this type of neighborhood to be wildly popular. Transit ridership on new light rail lines in these cities has exceeded all expectations. It also seems that these neighborhoods are doing relatively well in the collapsed housing market. The Urban Land Institue gives this advice to developers in a recent report: "Reorient to mixed-use and infill [developments]. Higher-density residential with retail will gain favor in next round of building."

Of course, many Americans still prefer to live in suburban style developments. However, the important thing is that we offer people choices. In most metropolitan areas individuals have no choice but to live in a single-family detached home and to make all of their trips by automobile. We can still offer the choice of single-family homes, but by making some small changes, we can reduce the number and distance of automobile trips. Forty-one percent of all car trips in urban areas are less than two miles. By making sure that streets are friendly to bicycles and pedestrians, eliminating cul-de-sacs, and placing amenities and transit closer to residential neighborhoods, we can eliminate many of these automobile trips.

A recent Pew opinion poll found that 30 percent of Americans would prefer to live in a small town. However, in most of America it would be impossible to develop a new "small town," with a Main Street comprised of small store fronts and apartments on the upper floors. This type of development is often simply not allowed in many places according to zoning laws. Instead, we get six lane arterial roads lined with big box stores. Does anyone really enjoy sitting through two cycles at a traffic light in order to make a left hand turn into the grocery store parking lot?

Progressives must also remember that smart growth can promote other goals of the progressive movement; that is, smart growth is good for the current and aspiring middle class. The second largest expense for American households after housing is transportation costs. A household that has good transit access will have lower transportation costs. Additionally, multi-family housing development also has the opportunity of providing affordable housing, especially if a locality has an inclusionary zoning law.