How much “space” does one person, or even a family need? When you were in those cities, where did you stay? There is a big difference between visiting a downtown core and living in a near-to-downtown neighborhood. Still not everyone’s cup of tea, sure, but if we all lived in an acre property we would collectively go bankrupt from infrastructure costs alone.
xkcd #2832: Urban Planning Opinion Progression ( imgs.xkcd.com )
xkcd.com/2832/...