> Very little land...in all... of North America. That's a big place for such a tight summary lol.
The problem is it's de facto illegal to actually build anything in city centres in North America, because of postwar zoning laws (it only takes 1 NIMBY to block any development, so it's not literally illegal but it might as well be). So even if you start your own new city in the middle of the empty desert, as soon as a hundred people move there you can't build anything anymore. That's why the only cities in NA are the ones that were built pre-1940, and as demand grows while supply stays fixed, they just get more and more expensive.
The problem is it's de facto illegal to actually build anything in city centres in North America, because of postwar zoning laws (it only takes 1 NIMBY to block any development, so it's not literally illegal but it might as well be). So even if you start your own new city in the middle of the empty desert, as soon as a hundred people move there you can't build anything anymore. That's why the only cities in NA are the ones that were built pre-1940, and as demand grows while supply stays fixed, they just get more and more expensive.