Mike:
Your premise might make sense to many but I can say this in the many travels and states I have visited -- there's no doubt you won't see so many "bargain" layouts with low fees in the more densely populated areas because the price for land, permits to construct and the wherewithal to bump up the price can and does often result in plenty of hefty increases.
However ...
There are clear exceptions if one truly investigates the possibilities ...
Rustic Canyon is one of those examples in the LA area. In NJ you have the likes of The Knoll and Hominy Hill, to name just two. In New York, until most recently, you had the likes of Bethpage State Park and its assorted courses with the flagship Black leading the way. Tallgrass is also a good back-up for those inclined to visit eastern Long Island. In PA you have the likes of Lederach and Morgan Hill -- not being far from Philadelphia. In Boston, the likes of Shaker Hills and Red Tail are also main contenders.
In general terms, your proposition is true but frankly Digest and a few of the other magazines have really failed to delve deeper and find affordable layouts of outstanding design that are not either geared towards the CCFAD model or have such marketing hype that the message and frontal publicity is nothing more then veneer and not much deeper than that.
Joe B:
The short answer is yes -- but not at the highest top tier as the ones I originally listed.
Candidly, I like Beechtree in plenty of ways but if you compare what Doak did with The Rawls Course the gap between the two is self evident - to at least my mind it is.
Jason:
Based on your accounts - I think we are talking about different courses. The North went through a major upgrade prior to the US Public Links event. The course is wide enough to handle different styles -- in regards to slow play - frankly that can happen at any number of courses throughout the USA -- including private ones in certain instances.
I don't know when you played it and beyond the slow play aspect I cannot address without any real detail what you thought were the shortcoming of the design. The North is indeed a fine layout now and it's overall pricing is quite attractive for just about any pocketbook.