Its good to see so many people who feel they could actually live without a car for even one trip. One comment suggested living without a car is for rich people. I am guessing he might be thinking about NYC or something similar. Right now, I live in a blue collar town that is a high walkability location. We happen to be the largest city in a rural county, Our population is 35k. I call us the county shopping town.
I expect the town services 250,000 people from nearby small towns, who must drive to get here. The 35k local residents get the benefit of two Wal-Marts, Lowes. HD, 5+ supermarkets, a hospital and one major medical facility, lots of dentists, restaurants, several pharmacies. parks, golf course, country club, 2 Rotary clubs, YMCA etc. Virtually all within 5 miles of 80% of the residents.
So why didn't a walking/biking culture happen here? I can't tell you for sure but my impression is that we have a USA 'car culture' that is well developed. People do not even think about leaving the house without heading directly for a motor vehicle. This happens no matter where they are going, the time that they have to get there and back, etc. This is what I think is the craziest example. A person who lives 3/4 mile from the YMCA where he swims for 30 minutes at least every other day, always drive to the Y. When asked why he drives, he never thought to get there any other way. Leaving the house almost always means doing it in a motor vehicle.
Others on this post say, I can't carry my groceries home without my car or other issues they feel are getting in their way. In some cases they may not have a choice. But, what is getting in the way of our YMCA swimmer? My theory is attitude and/or simply not even considering active transportation as an alternative. A person who can swim for 30 minutes can walk 3/4 of a mile.
I think we are making progress in my community with a great effort to develop Complete Streets and to build encouragement programs. But, it takes a lot of effort to get people to believe they can go shopping or to the Y by walking or biking. I expect a major change will not happen in my life time.
Motor vehicles are wonderfully comfortable. In my analysis, given all the benefits one can receive by driving, the motor vehicle is an addiction. Very hard to give up.
For those people who do not live in a place where walking and biking make sense, this is not addressing you. There are many people who must use a car. I use a car when I go to Costco, which is a 45 minute motor vehicle ride and $200 in product purchases. I will defend errands we need/want to do like my Costco run. But not to Kroger for a loaf of bread or to the Y for exercise which is 2 miles or less from home. In those situations, I make my car my second choice. It's not that I never use it but I need to convince myself, my motor vehicle should be my first choice for the errand.