This same problem does not exist in many places where urbanization is much further along than it is here, which would lead me to question whether it was the primary factor at work.
The issue isn't low standards of living in dense US cities but the lack of affordable housing. If you want an international example of providing affordable housing in an area with very high property values, Singapore accomplishes this with the government-run HDB apartments.
If I want a fancy beer from Holy Mountain, I need to live close to it, or make big travel plans to get there. The same applies for each thing I might want to do. Living nearby lots of other people minimizes my distance to each of those things, so I avoid wasting money and time on travel.
The more technology and communication humanity develops, the more it clusters into small pieces of land with exorbitant rents.
Something just seems off.