Cities are awesome! Some people have an immediate negative view of big cities - congestion, pollution, traffic, expensive, etc. But those features do not necessarily follow from cities. Rather, they are a result of poor urban policy. What does seem to follow from cities is high productivity and economic growth. While causal evidence is hard to prove, there is much suggestive evidence that urbanization drives a host of positive economic factors of which productivity and economic growth are two of the more important ones. See here and here.
Density defines a city. And when it comes to density, cities in the United States are leaving significant economic growth on the table because of our low-density cities.
Paris is five times as dense as Washington, DC despite the fact that both cities are of comparable land size, have significant height restrictions, and restrict large pieces of land for national park and building / monument space.
My wife and I visited Paris recently and since we live in DC, noticed two key things that could explain the significant density difference.
1) American cities quickly becomes sparse as you move from the inner core because of the housing types. Paris has miles and miles of 6-7 story apartment buildings. DC has a few taller apartment buildings in the core (Dupont, Logan Circle, West End, etc) but very quickly, you find brownstones and single family homes.
2) Americans occupy more square feet per person than the French. The hotel rooms, the apartments, and the homes are all bigger in Washington, DC.
So there is no doubt that supply side constraints (e.g. height restrictions, zoning laws) are hindering density and economic growth in the U.S.
And while those supply side policies should be changed, it is unlikely that U.S. cities will still be as dense as those in other developed countries.
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