ABSTRACT
The drain on the American economy is manifested in a number of ways, from strained municipal and household budgets to reduced worker productivity. Households also feel the effects of low-density development. With the increased automobile dependence and longer trips required by spread-out development, Americans spend more on transportation than on food, clothing, or health care. The migration of residents, jobs, and economic investment to America's sprawling outer suburbs has been devastating to many inner-city neighborhoods, including a disproportionate number of minority communities. The draining of wealth, resources, and spirit from these neighborhoods has meant that many of those who have remained have become isolated from mainstream society, making it increasingly difficult for them to access jobs, educational opportunities, medical services, and other prerequisites of the American Dream. The American Dream is about progress, improving one's circumstances, about opportunity for succeeding generations to be more comfortable and more prosperous than their forebears.
