@talk72000,
I proposed something like that on a nytimes housing/suburban design thread comment section - that a number of the now abandoned housing areas could be retrofitted with this in mind - perhaps adding a second floor kitchen, for example - removing a house or two for park/bbq area/community center/small corner store. Houses are moveable, and maybe rearrangement could work in some of those spread out suburban desolation zones. Well, this is all pie in the sky talk, but given the extent of these zones, some rethinking is necessary, if not my own takes on it all. Goes without saying that adequate transportation other than cars would be a good idea.