Living in a rural area isn't a lifestyle choice when the cities are so far apart. I live in Canada... I live three hours from my own mom. And we live in the t

Living in a rural area isn't a lifestyle choice when the cities are so far apart. I live in Canada... I live three hours from my own mom. And we live in the two largest cities in my province, separated by vast swathes of cattle pasture and wheat fields. I live 2 hours from the nearest city that has any significant public transport (central Pennsylvania). Getting rid of a car isn't worth introducing a 2 hour drive to visit family that lives here -- they're why we live here in the first place. Right. That's a lifestyle choice. The choice you're making is choosing to optimize access to family at the expense of requiring a car. You could choose to live in or nearer to a city, making public transit an option, and renting for those times when you want to visit family. But that would, of course, introduce a barrier to visiting family, and you've decided that's not acceptable. That's fine! You're obviously free to make that choice! But don't claim you had no choice, and that it isn't because you've chosen to optimize for a certain lifestyle.