What were the poor infrastructure choices? I'm of the impression that the highway system (if that's what you're referring to) worked very well. Sure, it would be nice to have a train going everywhere you wanted, but in a place as sparse as 1950s America, that wasn't feasible. The choices don't seem poor to me, but they worked so well that there is less need for public transit. The remaining problem is that the cost to own or contract a car is too high for many folks--hopefully the self-driving car revolution will alleviate that and prove once again that our highway infrastructure was an investment and not a liability.