Yep. If you still live in the city like I do (in Philly), your wife can still stay home. My single family home in the city cost about 2/3 of what a similar suburban home would cost, and has 1/3 to 1/2 of the property tax burden. A row house or twin would be much, much cheaper.
It constantly amazes me that people will pay $200,000 for a "townhouse" in the suburbs, when the same thing in the city in a nice neighborhood, labeled a "rowhouse" goes for $80,000. Don't you have a better use for that $120,000 plus the carrying cost of taxes and insurance on that value? I do.
Interesting. The exact opposite is true in DC. The most expensive housing is generally closer in while the cheaper housing is further out. A decent single-family home in Arlington runs in the $600,000 plus range. You get a lot more for your money if you're willing to move out to Fairfax County, but then you add at least another hour to your commute every day.
St. Louis is similar, but I think in both cases it won't fly unless you homeschool or can afford parochial school, because the St. Louis city schools are very bad.
The problem is that many people do not want to homeschool - it's still only about 2% of the population.
Then there is the reluctance many people have to raise children in an inner city area. In my area the farther out from the central core you go, the more conservative the people get.