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I think you've posted this before. I've probably posted a similar answer.
America's love affair with the car started before the cities became wretched hives of scum and villainy and (despite the best efforts of New Urbanists) continued when most of them recovered. Having a car means you can go anywhere the road network can take you, when you want, the way you want. You can change your plans. You can bring your stuff with you. You can listen to your radio/music, converse with your passengers, or go in silence. It's your space, it goes where you want to go. It's also generally faster -- typically much faster -- than public transit, and cheaper per trip given that you need a car for any trip,
For reasons, I've been recently traveling to quite a few cities (I usually live in a suburb environment and have zero commute since I work remotely), mostly large ones on the West Coast. Sometimes I rent a car, sometimes I don't. What I noticed is that not having a car makes everything take way longer and way more complicated.
With a car I know when I have to leave to be at time X at point A, and how much time it'd take me to get to point B afterwards. Yes, even with the traffic, modern online tools are pretty decent at predicting it. And, as you note, I can listen to music, audiobooks, or silently meditate while I'm driving. I can also literally get to any place at any time of my choosing. And If I decide to make a detour to grab a coffee or buy some stuff I forgot, I know up to a minute how long that'd take me.
When I rely on the public transport, I am at the whim of its schedule (which could be extremely inconvenient for me) and it's coverage - if the closest bus stop is a mile from where you need, it's walking time. I'm reasonably fit so walking a mile is not a problem for me, but what if it's raining? What if it's hot as hell and I show up there all sweaty and smelly? And that's the ideal case. So many times the bus that should be on 15 min schedule just didn't show up - who knows why - and I was left guessing should I wait another 15 mins and then be guaranteed to be late if the next one doesn't show up too, or it's time to pay for uber/taxi?
And now safety. I've seen all kinds of crazy on public transport. I am pretty large, somewhat ugly and, again, reasonably fit male, so the chance somebody chooses to mess with me in particular, out of all possible choices, is not that big. Never happened so far. But still being in the presence of obviously psychotic person (who evidently hadn't experienced a shower in this decade) in a closed box is not something I particularly enjoyed. I've also seen and smelled a lot of bodily fluids and solids which I'd prefer not to. It's not always that bad - some routes are quite fine, but there's always a chance.
And of course if you need to bring something with you, it's even more problematic. I mean, if it fits in a backpack, then fine. But if not? With a car, I can pack stuff I'd need for a week there without a problem, and have plenty of space left. I can go to a shopping spree and just put all the stuff in my trunk and forget about it. I can buy a pack of water bottles once, put them in the car and use them for a week. I can have a change of clothes if the weather changes or I get dirty. Etc. etc. A lot of things are so simple when you have a mobile mini-home with you everywhere you go.
In short, car improves your quality of life so much. Sometimes, in some visits, the cost (rent, gas, parking, time to find parking, etc.) may be so high that even that improvement does not cover it, and then I still choose to go car-less. But the love for the car is not baseless at all, there's a lot there to love.
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