This, exactly. I think most people would be happy living in better suburbs not city centers. Instead we have NIMBYs trying to preserve suburbs in all their current awfulness, and a few "everyone move to the urban core NOW" activists who think it's trivial because (a) they've never had do make such a move themselves and (b) they've never thought through the financial, political, and ecological issues involved. Literally abandoning the suburbs (including the suburb-like parts within big-city limits) not only isn't going to happen but shouldn't happen because it would be a disaster ecologically and otherwise. Suburbs need to be improved in place with better zoning and tax structures for higher density, mixed use, mixed income, walkability, public transportation, etc. Places that are already like that are clearly desirable, and would be a lot more affordable if there weren't so damn few of them.