The problem with Austin is that they keep building car-dependent suburban sprawl. If they focused on only building infill development, then they would be able to have more density. Also public transportation and bicycles can travel longer distances than you think. Just because Austin isn’t as dense doesn’t mean that you need to change the city radically to get rid of cars.

There are plenty of hilly cities with lots of bikes.

There are plenty of hot and cold cities with lots of bikes.

The ranking of transportation options, from cheapest to most expensive, and from most prioritized to least prioritized is

• walking
• bicycles
• public transportation
• cars

The most affordable transportation is walking and bicycling, but even public transportation is cheaper than cars if done right. Car-dependent society costs every single person tens of thousands of dollars a year, both from the expenses of owning a car, and the government expenses of building and maintaining expensive roads. A bus doesn’t cost that much.

Dutch suburban houses have backyards and bikes.