That is OK the Zombies like it. And Spain is almost as close to Ireland as Georgia is to me. I have lived in Some big cities and found them not to be my cup of tea. LA and Seattle were my home for for a few years during my early adult years. To me it was a bit like living in a pigeon coup or maybe an ant hill. Some of my family thrive on it. Some do not. One of my sisters lives on the Yakama Indian reservation and that is 180 degrees from how we grew up.

We have our places like Spain however, many of our well healed New Yorkers have a second home in the Hamptons. In fact I have another sister who just moved to Long Island herself. She married a golf pro. Now they are looking for a place in Nicaragua to retire. Many small towns in the south fit the same purpose, quiet living, lower crime, less expensive housing so your retirement money goes farther.

On the other hand my nephew is an urbanite at heart and would love to move to NYC.

Cars didn't cause our urban and suburban sprawl. They gave people looking for a way out a tool to leave. LA had Suburban development well before cars and supported it through the Red Car system. The sprawl the OP is talking about would be exactly the same even without cars, because it started well before cars came to the area. The fact is it is not that difficult to see it as a place you can get around on a bike. check out the map and see if you couldn't get around without a car?

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Cartersville&state=GA

How hard can it be?