That's simply a function of usable land. There is very little desert in Europe. Much of the Alps and the Nordic region is "wild". Much of Southeastern Spain

That's simply a function of usable land. There is very little desert in Europe. Much of the Alps and the Nordic region is "wild". Much of Southeastern Spain is fairly desolate. Much of the US "wild" area is simply not economically useful for major settlement, with the possible exception of the Pacific Northwest and far Northern California. A drive through rural France looked much the same as a drive through Texas, in terms of how often you'd encounter a town and the setup for a particular town. The major difference being that the transition from major city to rural is a lot faster since France has restricted urban sprawl quite a bit more.