American Urbanism--still quite relatively "spacious"

If you behold our most urban cities--NYC, SF, Boston, Chicago, etc you will see a pedestrian-oriented environment. Much of the lands around these cities have become "suburbia", ie wasteful formless development with cul-de-sacs, etc. We decry these as ultra-low-density waste pots. But if you think about the evolution of cities during man's existence, you'll easily notice that even America's "urban" cities are relatively spacious compared to their older European cousins. Heck, even in Manhattan most of the avenues are like 6 lane roads with medians. But going back even further, one can see that our most ancient cities were almost like a giant palace or house, with "roads" being more like hallways and individual dwellings just being like rooms of the house. It is amazing what this implies--society has changed so much. Cities were much more communal in those times, almost like a giant extended family. But nowadays, especially in the American sense of cities, individual freedoms and personal space is given the utmost priority. Take a look at these pics of ancient Jerusalem from the Isreal subforum. These are beautiful pictures and truly exemplify what I mean. Enjoy! http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=293222>