Reddit mentions of Retrofitting Suburbia, Updated Edition: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs

Many cities in this area do have the core of walkable infrastructure in them and just require a bit of change to make them better. There is an entire sub-genre of urban development books related to the very concept of turning sprawl into dense walkable neighborhoods (e.g. Sprawl Repair Manual, Retrofitting Suburbia, Walkable City).

Puget Sound Regional Council takes these kinds of issues into consideration with regional planning. City planners also take these kinds of things into consideration. There is very high interest in building more urban walkable neighborhoods even in suburbs. The problem is it takes time and money for cities to implement these rules, and construction projects to correct deficiencies, and the building stock to turn over.

1. The Life and Death of American Cities - Jane Jacobs is a must. It basically created the entire category of urban design. Absolutely canonical.
   
   Also Retrofitting Suburbia, Updated Edition: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs by Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson.
   
   TEDTalk associated with this book is a good listen.
   
   I'm more informed about "New Urbanism" which was taught at my school. Look at Congress of New Urbanism.

Worth noting that there are lots of examples of urban planning strategies where density was increased without increasing traffic - including one from the Denver Metro area! Belmar tripled its density without worsening traffic or widening roads. There's a whole chapter about it in this book, but unless you're a very boring person like me, I probably wouldn't recommend reading it :)

I won't, but I will give you several sites and subreddits you should check out.

/r/urbanplanning

/r/urbandesign

/r/urbantransport

/r/highspeedrail

/r/transit

Congress for the New Urbanism

Congress for the New Urbanism's YouTube Channel

Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (planning firm)

Smart Growth Online

NewUrbanism.org

Strong Towns YouTube Channel

Notre Dame School of Architecture YouTube Channel

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Here are also some good book recommendations (links to Amazon pages), many you could probably find at a local library:

A Better Place to Live: Reshaping the American Suburb by Philip Langdon

The Architecture of Community by Leon Krier

Architecture: Choice or Fate by Leon Krier

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch

The Smart Growth Manual by Andres Duany and Jeff Speck with Mike Lydon

Sprawl Repair Manual by Galina Tachieva

Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones

Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream by Andres Duany

History of Urban Form Before the Industrial Revolutions by A.E.J. Morris

The Language of Towns & Cities: A Visual Dictionary by Dhiru A. Thadani