That requires living in an expensive city, at least in North America.

The savings of not having a car might make up for that. I definitely don't miss having one.

Worth considering in many places (especially due to the additional hassle of having a car in some cities) but not viable in others, at least without considerable hardship.

There are no universal solutions... Car ownership shouldn't be considered as the default option, either. I tend to think people overestimate the 'hardship' by not fully considering options to use money to overcome them. Also, daily cycling - even if not strenuous - has excellent health benefits.

For example, you can get a really nice cargo bike for a fraction of the yearly savings of not owning a car, which will last for decades and solves the 'hardship' of handling groceries. This won't work in every case (recall, no universal solutions), but it significantly shifts the decision boundaries.

My fleet consists of a 'fast' sporty bike, a folding bike (for day to day, connecting with transit, taking on train trips, etc), and an old xtra-cycle cargo bike. The bikes were built/bought 15, 5 and 12 years ago, respectively; basically free once amortized. And since I'm saving ~$5000/year by avoiding car ownership, I just try not to feel shy about using 'expensive' one off transit solutions when it's substantially more convenient.