David Brooks wrote a column this morning discussing a recent PEW survey on where Americans want to lives. The survey concludes (in Brooks' mind) that despite a city like Amsterdam being reasonable in an affordable and environmentally friendly kind of way -- people bike, stores are nearby, etc. etc. -- Americans don't want to move to Amsterdam. He cites data showing that while young people desire dense urban areas, everyone else would rather live somewhere with more space -- say, near Seattle, or Orlando.

 The problem with Brooks' thought process and the survey is that he only gauges peoples' reactions to what is, and not what could be.  Never mind that most Americans have never lived in Amsterdam, let alone visited -- Americans truly do not know that public infrastructure doesn't need to be as decrepit and hostile as it it is. 

 Americans may prefer suburbs, but that's because our cities are lined with homeless, many of whom are mentally unstable; our public transportation is not only unreliable, but hostile toward those unfamiliar with it; our cities are overflowing with cars; very little is done to keep clean the nicest areas of a city, and even less to the poor areas. The list goes on. Is it any surprise Americans still prefer suburbs? 

While there's nothing wrong with what Brooks says, it's what he doesn't say that guaruntees the living conditions in this country will continue to deteriorate. If we listen to surveys, we will continue to develop suburbs, even though we know that suburban sprawl  is destroying our environment (though it may not seem so, New York City is actually the most environmentally friendly population per capita in this country). Instead, we should consider what an ideal city looks like, and, gasp, consider that Americans don't always want what's best, or even know what we want until someone invents it. 

At the end of  his column, Brooks writes, "Americans may be gloomy and afraid, but they still have a clear vision of the good life. That’s one commodity never in short supply." Brooks is one of those who still cling to the Fifties; who still believe you should be able to drive up to a restaurant in your Mustang and have a girl on rollerskates serve you a shake, or maybe latte; who still think it's ok for Americans to have a garage full of sporting goods that they haul up to Tahoe with a (hybrid) truck. Sure, he doesn't say these things outright -- his cover is that a survey says Americans want these things, though he never quite says so himself. But what you dont' say matters, and Brooks doesn't consdier that maybe, just maybe, the good life requires some compromise between our wants and reality, and that in the end, making compromises may not end up compromising our living the good life at all.