I've heard this excuse many times but it doesn't make sense to me. Zürich (with excellent public transport) for example has a densitiy of 4700/km2[1] and many areas / cities in US have an even higher density[2].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_b...