In most of Europe the land usage policies encourage people to live in cities and towns. Taxes, fuel surcharges and complexity in acquiring a driver's license make the barrier to entry in automotive ownership high. So public transit is more robust and bicycle usages is much higher.
In the United States, the land usage policies actually encourage people to move out of towns and cities into the suburbs. This is known as urban sprawl or urbanization and it makes public transit less effective and more costly to implement and maintain. The taxes are much lower on vehicles and fuel, and acquiring a driver's license is trivial. Thus vehicle ownership is much more attainable and appealing.
Because of the high vehicle ownership in the United States, communities have developed with distinct residential, commercial, and industrial zones that are often many miles apart. There are residential zones that touch commercial and industrial zones however they're often low income zones that are usually in disrepair or high in crime making them unfavorable.
Because it's so easy to acquire a car and communities are planned around vehicle ownership, not having one raises questions and if you're not living in a low income zone, it's often assumed that your lack of a vehicle is due to a restriction such as a DUI offense.
In the United States, the land usage policies actually encourage people to move out of towns and cities into the suburbs. This is known as urban sprawl or urbanization and it makes public transit less effective and more costly to implement and maintain. The taxes are much lower on vehicles and fuel, and acquiring a driver's license is trivial. Thus vehicle ownership is much more attainable and appealing.
Because of the high vehicle ownership in the United States, communities have developed with distinct residential, commercial, and industrial zones that are often many miles apart. There are residential zones that touch commercial and industrial zones however they're often low income zones that are usually in disrepair or high in crime making them unfavorable.
Because it's so easy to acquire a car and communities are planned around vehicle ownership, not having one raises questions and if you're not living in a low income zone, it's often assumed that your lack of a vehicle is due to a restriction such as a DUI offense.