I live in St. Louis, MO, a reasonably sized city sitting next to lots of urban cities in St. Louis County, where you can get to just about anywhere on a bike. We even have lots of "Bike St. Louis" signs and arrows on the road that show cars that "yes, bikes are supposed to be here." Car speeds (because I don't think anyone actually pays attention to signs) range from 3 mph to 50 mph, depending on the road and time of day. St. Louis also has a lot of hills and it seems like every one of them goes up even when you turn around and try to go back down. Plus side - gets you in shape fast.
I live on the south side of town, which seems to have a majority of people who rely on bikes or walking to get where they're going. I've never run into a problem with cars here, not even in the dead of winter at 3 a.m., because people just seem used to all the bikes.
As my actual vehicle is a van that gets 11 mpg, I don't drive much. I try to spend under $50 a month on gas, if that. Plus, St. Louis has terrible public transportation, unfortunately. I'm a reporter who works from home, but I do have to go out around town pretty often. And usually that means I need to "get there now", so I've managed to get pretty fast on my bike as of late. I'm not timid on the roads, maybe sometimes I'm a little too brave, but I do pay attention to traffic lights and obey them. This bike is my car after all.
I'm pretty recognizable on the road - I have my helmet and always wear the same maroon jacket when I ride (I guess spring is coming so that will be coming off soon), plus I have my headlight and flashing taillight. Oh yes, and my blue backpack that doubles as my purse. All winter I went with my right pant leg tucked into an ugly brown wool sock, which should be catching as the latest fashion trend by now. I ride six days a week on average, sometimes all seven and none of my friends will ride with me anymore because I either ride too fast or want to ride too far.