I certainly agree that the US planned too much around cars and not enough around walking/transit/cycling.

I am however often skeptical of the comparisons to university life. While walkability absolutely does help foster connection, I don't think you can attribute all of the differences just to that. There are other major differences between life in university and life outside that also make a big difference in fostering connection:

- Only 5,000-50,000 people in universities, compared to millions in cities. You're more likely to live near friends and more likely to run into them.

- The vast majority of people in university are in the same narrow age group

- Most people in university have more free time than those who work full time