Rod himself recognized this in Crunchy Cons when he noted that he was able to move into the city only because schooling wasn't an issue for his kids — they will be homeschooled. I would hope that most if not all crunchies recognize that what is called for is not merely a moral choice — give up some acreage and square-footage in exchange for family and community. Rather, what is needed, and what many of the people Rod writes about are practicing, is a rebuilding of community in the wasteland of post-60s urban (and rural) America. This is not an easy thing. For example, I certainly wouldn't try it in downtown Detroit, where the city government remains a horror. Instead I moved into a "new" neotraditional neighborhood. It's not perfect, either. Again, hard choices must be made, and the mobility of our generation makes them even harder. But the market shows that people have a desire for real towns — their property values skyrocket compared to typical subdivisions.

But it seems to me a good thing to both present people with the argument that there is something better than strip malls and McMansions AND to work on changing laws and policies so that we can recapture more urban areas for good working and middle class families (and the worst victims in Detroit were just such families, and black families in particular who had a harder time escaping) and make it possible to build and rebuild in a more humane fashion.