&gt; <i>the predominant suburban design of the US of the worst features of life here, viewed from the perspective of a European immigrant like me,</i><p>Really? As an immigrant, I always though the worst features of life in the US are the 10x higher murder rate, millions of desperate people with no health care, etc. and the crushing debt placed onto young people looking to educate themselves.<p>I would change those things long before changing urban planning.