[parkingrift]

Public transport in the US is an absolute impossibility outside of dense urban environments. There is way too much sprawl to ever have a reliable public transport network in the US. Best we could hope for would be high speed rail to connect urban areas and replace short/medium distance air travel.

[juunpp]

As far as I understand it, many such areas were developed as a consequence of car companies lobbying the government back in the day. The car companies are the culprit here; the sprawl is not accidental.

[parkingrift]

It doesn’t matter why. The sprawl exists and will continue to exist.

[silisili]

We could do a hub and spoke model, probably. Basically, move the parking lots out of the businesses and into the exurbs. It's not perfect, but would mean a lot less miles driven for most people.

[parkingrift]

In this model people would still need cars. If people have a car they will prefer to use it. This hub and spoke would only work if you forced people to use it.

[silisili]

True - which is why we also must work to remove parking lots from the city centers and businesses. People aren't going to drive if there's nowhere for them to park!

That said, I'm not advocating for tearing down an entire city and starting over. This would have to be done slowly over many years, which means politically - it will never get done.