Originally Posted by cooker
Suburbs aren't full of cars because cars are a status symbol. Suburbs are full of cars because suburbs are designed for cars and you can't easily live there without one or more cars.
So the obvious question becomes....why do people live in suburbs?
Because cities are only nice to visit, not to live full time in.
Granted, there's a tradeoff to living out in "the sticks"; have to drive sometimes quite a distance to get to a job, as one example. My closest commute in the last 11 years has been 35 miles each way. If I did that on bike-friendly roads, it would be well over 50+ miles each way; since there's no "techie" jobs around here, I have to travel.
Some of the benefits are finding some roads that aren't heavily traveled on and being able to ride in peace. I was scouting out a route (via car) several weeks back during the week, and didn't pass another car for nearly a half hour. I was amazed....and these were actual main routes, not some barely paved sideroads. Also, people around here are more inclined to not harass you on a bike as much as more urban areas.
Living car-free for me is not an option, nor would I want it to be. Even if I didn't need it for work, I enjoy traveling and doing things far too much to be chained down to a relatively small radius.