> We subsidize suburbs at the expense of cities, in a huge
> number of areas - highways, water, schools, then express
> disapproval of people who make what seems the rational
> decision for them - given the incentives we are given.
I think you've conflated the two "we" groups in this; the first one is typically bad math plus corruption: the subdivision gets done cheaply without the proper attention to what services will cost in the new area because the PowerPoint presentation to the town council shows inflated tax revenues paying for all the under-funded services sometime in the future when they won't be town councilors anymore. Plus the alderman's brother Joey is the developer, and maybe some of your friends can buy the models and flip them when this thing really gets going.
The second "we" -- those of us who disapprove after the fact, despite the apparent rationality -- are not the same group.
/jordan