Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"Well, because along with the costs of larger cities, there certainly are benefits. Clearly, the costs include sitting in traffic longer, higher housing prices, crowded schools, crowded cultural facilities, etc. And people see that, and because we're human, we complain about that. But on the flip side, there are a lot of benefits that go along with cities getting bigger. Medical facilities tend to be more widespread. There are more specialists. You can only afford to have some medical specialists in large cities. Cultural and entertainment opportunities are more available, from music to arts and, finally, job opportunities. In bigger cities, you're going to have a broader array of professions and occupations. So the bottom line here is, yes, larger cities certainly bring higher costs but they also bring higher benefits. And, of course, every individual person has to sort and weigh whether these benefits exceed the costs."