Most people don't know how the car lifestyle was gradually, and brilliantly foistered on the US culture. Here's basically what happened:
In the late 1800s-early 1900s most major US cities had efficient trolley (street car) systems. In the 1930s, huge conglomerates bought the street cars, junked them, and then paved over the tracks. To soothe over public outcry, they gave the cities busses. These busses worked fine (I assume) until they eventually started to break down. After that, automakers initiated an aggressive marketing campaign encouraging people to buy private autos: 'Why rely on public transportation, when you can have the independence of your own car?' Thus, the car culture was born and persists to this day.
Say what you will about their morality (or amorality), but the plan and marketing strategy by the auto/oil conglomerates was brilliant. They gradually and subtley created a situation where almost every resident in most US cities would need a product (car) they would sell. It textbook business 101 - create a need, then sell a product to satisfy that need.
We can blame the greedy auto/oil companies all we want, but US citizens let this happen. By letting self-interested, profit oriented companies assume the transit plan for US cities rather than treating transportation as a collective public resource, it lead to the situation we have now where almost everyone needs a car.