And urban streets used to be for pedestrians first, until the automotive industry lobbied to create the crime of "jaywalking."

I still don't get why that's even a crime. I live in Germany, and I jaywalk 5-10 times on a normal working day, because it's stupid to wait at a red light when there's no traffic within sight.

Small villages have become more spread out with the automobile in the US. Cities are dense enough most kinds of destination are within walking distance. 50% of Manhattanites don't own cars. The question is what modes of transport should have priority and in suburbs the answer is cars.

You've got your history backward. Suburbs exist in America for two reasons: widespread car ownership and institutionalized racism in the form of redlining.