A fun piece. Amid the usual bilious cant about the horrors of suburban sprawl, he does have a point or two. A lot of newer, ticky-tacky suburbs really are bloody eyesores. I hate places where you can't walk because there's noplace to walk to--everything orbits around the mall, and there are no interesting destinations within a mile of home. I hate that, and a lot of these suburbs are exactly like this. I grew up on the south side of Chicago, crime-ridden and grotty. But we could walk to the supermarket, the library, the drug store, our school...it was, in that respect, a wonderful place to be a kid.
Another writer here makes a good point. Where the heck will Phoenix get all the water it needs to sustain this sort of thing? They're going to pump the land dry.
All that said, you can see that a goodly part of the horror felt by the author derives from his correct perception that the conservative whites who tip elections in this country actually like to live this way. Must scare the poor fellow to death.
Geez, this article makes me feel like Americans are the Borg -- Assimilate or die!