Maybe you’ve heard this unkind old joke about American culture: We will pay a small fortune to amble through the cobblestone streets of Rome and Paris, or even the ersatz Main Street in Disneyland. Then we’ll return to our suburban homes and two-car garages, and swear that a place like that could never work here.  There’s a sad truth to this. In cities and suburbs across the country, a vocal contingent of Americans devote themselves to resisting change that could bring denser, more pedestrian-oriented development to their backyards. Many people I talk to about my work on American cit...