@tiaxanderson
A good deal of that difference also derives just the AGE of these cities. European cities originally built 1000 years ago are designed around foot-traffic, with some larger lanes for horse-carts that at most, equate to a 2-lane road of today. There's a limit to how many 8 lane highways you can put through a city like that without demolishing half the existing buildings (which are, you know, currently occupied).
The oldest North American cities are at most a few hundred years old; much of their current sprawl was built after the invention of the automobile, and some cities today were founded entirely after; built from the first paved road with car traffic in mind. The suburbs (low-density residential neighborhoods, built to provide middle-class (and higher) living areas away from the high-rises of the inner cities) are practically inaccessible without owning your own car. Nothing is close enough to walk to from there.
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@tiaxanderson
A good deal of that difference also derives just the AGE of these cities. European cities originally built 1000 years ago are designed around foot-traffic, with some larger lanes for horse-carts that at most, equate to a 2-lane road of today. There's a limit to how many 8 lane highways you can put through a city like that without demolishing half the existing buildings (which are, you know, currently occupied).
The oldest North American cities are at most a few hundred years old; much of their current sprawl was built after the invention of the automobile, and some cities today were founded entirely after; built from the first paved road with car traffic in mind. The suburbs (low-density residential neighborhoods, built to provide middle-class (and higher) living areas away from the high-rises of the inner cities) are practically inaccessible without owning your own car. Nothing is close enough to walk to from there.