[stardenburden]

This is exactly what city planners call the missing middle in the US. There's skyscrapers, and two blocks over you have single family suburbs.

If it wouldn't be for political opposition most cities, undoubtedly, would upzone (permit higher density) areas near downtown and other hubs, but even in "progressive" cities progress is slow because of opposition of the people who currently live there (commonly called NIMBY's)