Also old cities have different "suburbs" than newer cities. Boston's "streetcar suburbs" were built along public transit first and foremost so they're the perfect blended suburb for families. Nice and quiet but a short train's ride away from downtown.

We commute by bike or transit as a family in Boston through all seasons. We own a car but it sits parked unless we're going on a special weekend trip or something; the car averages 6k miles per year and I'd estimate that Christmas, etc account for about 1/3 of that.