I spent half my life in Australia where Cars were a requirement for anything, and half my life in Hong Kong, another Asian city where Cars were basically a luxu

I spent half my life in Australia where Cars were a requirement for anything, and half my life in Hong Kong, another Asian city where Cars were basically a luxury. I very recently moved to North America and was really taken by surprise in a lot of regards with care culture, primarily how "pedestrian hostile" the city is as a whole. Without a car you're really limited in where you can go and what you can do. In Hong Kong I felt a lot of freedom of movement, and even casual visits back to Australia the public transport is both safe and efficient (not compared to Asia but still in really good conditions). Parking space was the big blocker for owning cars in Hong Kong too, not to the degree of Japan, but it certainly inflated that barrier.