One of the more fashionable anti's- to hit the public consciousness in the last few years is anti-sprawl. One wise blogger said, "It beats the heck out of depending on a transportation union to get you to work."

That summarizes the problem with the opposite of sprawl, you have to depend on having good neighbors. With sprawl you can be much more self-dependent, and won't have to worry about strikes keeping you from riding the bus.