Walkability isn't uniform across Europe, Scandinavia or even within a single country: other people have mentioned Stockholm - which is still a walkable town, even though car-traffic is prioritized over cycles and pedestrians[0] - but other towns in Sweden are definitely not modelled for pedestrians. Nyköping is a town I need to visit regularly, and there pretty much all of the grocery and larger stores have been placed in out-of-town complexes, which means that everyone takes the car for almost all activities: I was there at the weekend and sat in a car-queue myself (I was part of the problem) for about ten minutes just to get past one of the roundabouts that accesses one of these shopping areas (which are vast car-parks and ugly buildings effectively cut-off from the town and inaccessible to anyone without a car).
So any characterization of USA vs Europe positing Europe as some sort of walkable-heaven is really just idealized bullshit.
[0] I've received (Swedish?) downvotes for this contention before - Swedish-speaking readers can see https://www.cyklistbloggen.se for good documentation.
So any characterization of USA vs Europe positing Europe as some sort of walkable-heaven is really just idealized bullshit.
[0] I've received (Swedish?) downvotes for this contention before - Swedish-speaking readers can see https://www.cyklistbloggen.se for good documentation.