This question was addressed in a report by the center-left, New York-based Center for an Urban Future.

FORBES: New Geographer

The Center for an Urban Future, a nonprofit research organization, estimated in a 2007 report about Staten Island that more than 2 million tourists a year take the ferry, with few ever leaving to explore the island.

WSJ: Ferris Wheel Eyed for Ferry Terminal

But in another way these patterns augur a bright future for an expansive American metropolis that, while not hostile to the urban center, recognizes that most businesses and families continue to prefer lower-density, decentralized settings.

FORBES: The Protean Future Of American Cities