I imagine the point is that what happens in the US isn't some inevitable state of things, it's the choices of US citizens, and they could look abroad to see counterexamples to their assumptions.
yeah it was meant in this direction... I lived and worked in Minneapolis and Boston and I don't get all the discussions why this segregation for livability, walkability etc is so prominent and by choice in the US compared to the cities in europe. I mean here you also have an separation by income (as indicated by the linked provided), but even the low income areas are livable and walkable and you have everything for your daily needs.