Americans will visit European cities and say "This is so nice. I wish I lived here!" And then when their city tries to make steps towards adding the things that make them so pleasant, vehemently oppose them.
I’ve been to the big European cities and I am not sure I’ve seen anything I’d say was nicer than the big American cities. What specifically are you referring to?
In this case, cycling infrastructure. But in general, measures that support walkability, non-car transportation, and pedestrianisation.
Lisbon, Porto, Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris are all nicer than any major US city from an infrastructure perspective imho. NYC gets close, Chicago gets an honorable mention (CTA, Metra, bike and bus lanes). TLDR People > cars.
Lisbon, Porto, and Dublin (that I know of among those) are all car-centric hellholes though. The only advantage they have compared to something like Houston Texas is old medieval / historic centres that force those zones at least not to be turned into parking lots and strip malls.