Bike Gremlin The Netherlands is an exception in Europe too, only Denmark and Flanders come somewhat close.
Originally Posted by
Notso_fastLane
Your impression is largely true, especially in the midwest and west US.
For instance, where I work, the average commute for most of the people I personally know in this building (~20 people), I would say the average commute is around 30 miles, with a couple of them nearly 60 miles (one way).
I lived in N. Germany for a little over a year, and commuted by bike or train (mostly bike) and the design of streets/traffic there, while more bike and pedestrian friendly, still emphasized vehicular traffic (Germans love their cars!), and was similar to the US. But even there, the integrated city layout was much friendlier to pedestrians and bikes. Europe doesn't generally have a large grocery store spaced several miles apart, like the US typically does. My short walk from the train station to my apartment in Hamburg passed by a few smaller markets where I could pick up groceries, so it was easier to go shopping several times a week instead of waiting and doing one big trip (needing the car) like most places in the US.
There are probably only a few cities in the US that would benefit from an Amsterdam style traffic system (San Fran, Portland, Seattle, NYC, maybe a few others), although if every city installed systems like this, other than the initial up front cost, there's not a really downside, and drivers would get used to it. I would be very curious if such systems would incent more people to walk or bike.
Actually there is a good video about that from the same guy:
Summary: It's not as good in Copenhagen and certainly not in the rest of Denmark, but it's much more useful as an example.
Cycling is part of the fabric of society here, so it's related to about anything. Grocery stores is just one of them, but a clear example of mutual influence. I guess different fabric means different cycling just like different distances mean different cycling. I could imagine Americans using cycling more as a proper exercise, but they have more space to build showers at work too. A regular grid might be an advantage too and NYC for a large part already isn't fit to get around by car. The economic argument might also be more pressing, if it's easy to get around people will go out more and spend money (tolerance for drunk cycling is also part of the fabric). The suburbs might be key, the kids will love the independence and the parents could do with the time they spend on having to drive them everywhere. I think the question is where to start to make it grow continuously in way that fits the local society, which it will change over time too, especially through the kids.
So you got to develop American cycling and not copy/paste Dutch solutions for Dutch problems, and you can't build an infrastucture that won't hold up until it's finished. The Dutch started in the 70's when they still had a lot left to work with, together with other favourable circumstances.