[11235813213455]

I disagree, I live in western Europe, France, and the situation is unfortunately very US-like, people care a lot about their cars

> In other rich countries people just use the most convenient mode of transport, which in cities usually is the metro - it's never the car

No, other rich countries are converging to this US model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_...

[Grustaf]

It's not about car ownership, it's about car dependence and how you view the car. In Scandinavia most people have cars, but nobody would find it the least bit strange for a middle class or rich person to take the bus to work, and people don't think it's normal to drive 500 m to a shop.

I don't know if you are French or just live there, but you have probably noticed that most people have very small cars compared to the US. Most people don't feel the need to signal status through having a large car, it's much more pragmatic.

[11235813213455]

South of France, high proportion of SUV, many Teslas too, there are some small cars that probably don't even exist in USA, but still a large proportion of oversized vehicles, and 1 bicycle every 100 cars (roughly, when I'm bored and start counting on my bike or walking)

many SUVs: https://www.best-selling-cars.com/france/2022-full-year-fran...

[suddenclarity]

You're kinda missing the point. It's not about number of cars or bikes per capita standing in a garage but rather how the cities are built differently. Everything is designed for walking and bikes. In the US, they are designed for cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM