Density of the entire country is not super relevant — the vast vast majority of travel is within a city or two away from where you live.

I’m not saying that nobody should ever drive, and if you have a long ways to go between obscure locations it totally makes sense to drive.

But if the US optimized for the 99% of trips that people make, within 30 miles of where they live, then it just comes down to regular urban planning where density can be “whatever you design”.

But yeah this is specific to cities and suburbs, I’m not trying to imply anything about people who live further out or who are making far-away trips.

If your household only needed one car for the monthly trips to grandmas or out for camping in the wilderness, and you didn’t need to drive at all around your city, that would still be a huge win for Americans today. Especially those with kids who depend on the parents for transportation by car.