Yeah, go watch the Not Just Bikes video and you'll see that what he's talking about isn't rural. But of course, you won't really see the issues unless you try to walk. When I was 19 I was living in Orange County (CA) and my car was in the shop. What was normally a 15 minute drive to work turned into a 3hr bus ride. I probably would have saved 15 minutes by walking, but these are the design differences. You probably wouldn't notice the difficulties unless you actually attempt to walk.