That's one of the major things I feel like gets lost in the anti-car talk. If you can't afford a car/cannot drive you independence in the US plummets to zero. Can't drive to work, then you don't work for the vast majority of jobs. No car equals no job, no job equals no income, no income equals no "worth/value" in America. I hate it so much. You can't even get on the inductive step on the path to personal independence without a car in the US. It's such a trap.