It's possible to test ride a Dutch Trek or a Breezer in Seattle or Portland-- the're not cheap however. Overall, I'd say they are a good value for the money, however.

What you can get in Europe and not in the USA is a $300 3 speed with fenders, rack and cheesey generator headlight. Bike shops in the USA play this little rip off scam of nailing you for over 25 bucks for a set of crappy Planet Bike fenders or no-name rack or anything else you might need to use a bike a practical way. Germans would never stand for this kind of crap-- they want the bike fully loaded to start with.

Of course some bike shop in Seattle could build it's own lower cost, fully loaded commuter bike I guess-- for $400-500 easy enough. I don't know if anyone would really buy it however.