The greatest freedom of all is the ability to use your own legs to take you to where you want to go. Your idea of freedom changes when you live in a walkable area and realize that you don't have to rely on anything other than yourself to get you to most things in life.
But... I simply cannot understand the desire to live in such close proximity to large numbers of other people. Never ever again will I subject myself to high density living. I live in a suburb and simply hate having to go downtown especially when there are big events going on. The bars are crowded, eating establishments are packed, noisy has hell. Won't do it, you can't make me!
I like the quiet, I like being able to walk into a suburban bar and not have to shoulder my way through a crowd to try to find a seat if one is even available. It's nice to simply walk in, sit down on a bar stool and actually hear the game on the TV. I like not having the noise of a city outside my window when I sleep.
The greatest freedom of all is that either of us can make the choice of what lifestyle suits us.
The bars are crowded, eating establishments are packed, noisy has hell.
However, if I go to a "destination" for out-of-towners[1], then yes: it's packed, noisy, and insufferable.
Same thing with traffic -- most of the personal automobile traffic in the cities comes from commuters that don't live here.
[1] I was trying really hard not to say "bridge and tunnel" ...
It would be lovely if we could choose which lifestyle suits us, but most of the cities in the US do not provide ANY option for someone who wants proper high-density, so to exercise my "freedom" to live in a pedestrian friendly high-density city involved leaving the US entirely.
There are definite advantages to living in an area where you rarely need a vehicle, but I will always want to own one anyway. :-)
Subsidized conveniences when you add it all up, really.
> when it clearly works fairly well the way it is
Aside from the traffic, smog, and high number of accidental deaths directly attributable to automobile traffic, you mean?
Which is to say, yeah, I suppose we're selfish, but then again, owning property is selfish, comrade.
Also, as an aside, try riding a bike about 5 ~ 10 miles when it's 105 degrees out (pretty common where I live), or even hovering around zero (fairly common where I used to live). It's not fun, nor is it practical. It's a big part of why nobody does it.
They exist in most of the developed world; North America is the major exception. All that's required to create them here is good public policy, which was the topic to begin with.