Cosmic City

Recent efforts by Wendy Freedman of the Carnegie Institution to combine data from the Hubble space telescope with the new Spitzer space telescope have revealed the hotbed of young stars in the center of the galaxy.
For those not acquainted with the Milky Way architecture, the center of the galaxy is believed to be inhabited by a massive black hole, which keeps the galaxy together and spinning. The five major arms of the galaxy spiral outward from the center, and several hundred billion stars populate these five arms.
Scientists have determined that our solar system lies quite a ways outward from the center, but not near the outside of the Milky Way galaxy, in an area known as the "galactic habitable zone." Closer to the center, stars are hotter, and closer together, and if planets existed they'd be constantly bombarded with radiation. Farther out from the center matter is much more spread out, and heavier elements necessary to harbor life as we know it is less available.

So here's my question: Is the Milky Way nothing more than the galactic version of a major city? You've got your black hole core, which represents the inner city slums that are to be avoided, or at least aren't ideal for life. Then farther out you have the hot, busy section where things are crowded and noisy, at least in radiation terms. Farther out yet you have the galactic suburbs, aka the habitable zone, where planets are (probably) plentiful and the conditions for life are better. Farther out yet you have your exurbs, aka the areas of the galaxy where life, if it could exist, is sparse and rural.
So, hundreds of years from now, when humanity invents a Jump Drive should we consider urban planning and the lessons learned from modern city organization when our species colonizes the galaxy?
Should we send farming colonies to the outer rim, where basic elements like hydrogen and helium are plentiful, but anything heavier than carbon isn't likely to be found? And should we overpopulate the inner zone, turning it into a seething mass of inhabited planets with mass transit and all the features of a large city? Will it become expensive and lucrative to inhabit a planet in the galactic habitable zone? Will we have planet development firms buy groups of planets and give them kitschy names, like "Loch Lloyd Star System" or "The Intergalactic: A Retirement Planet Community" and only the wealthiest of space travelers will be able to afford the overpriced planets there? Something to think about.

In the meantime, anyone seen my drawings of the Jump Drive I invented? I can't seem to find them anywhere.


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