[nxcho]

Sure, Swedish cities are a little less sprawly than American cities of the same size (I have no data on this but my general experience is that both apartments and houses a slightly larger in Sweden but a bigger part of the housing stock is in apartments), but I still don't think the geographical explanation holds especially in densely populated regions like the Bay Area. I think it has more to do a lack of interest from US politicians.

[briandear]

The Bay Area isn’t densely populated. San Jose to San Francisco is mostly single family homes in suburban neighborhoods. Even the “dense” parts don’t hold a candle to East Coast cities.