This is true. American urban design is hot garbage that fell off a truck, went threw a sewer, was dried out, set on fire, and then shot into the sun.

But affordability wise, yeah it's mostly the super-successful liberal cities that are really feeling the pain. Though all the other cities still have serious problems with economic segregation by neighborhood, generally.

Almost all conversation regarding housing / urban design seems to be focus on San Francisco. The only other cities ever mentioned here often are New York, Seattle, or London. So if you live in a reasonable city that doesn't have housing problems, insane tax policies, or homelessness taking over the streets you won't really get much conversation.