Really? Pretty much every single major city with 10M or more inhabitants in China (of which there are dozens, if not hundreds) was destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt after. There was no Marshall plan for this, which is why you probably had no idea. The US was not interested in helping communists in China or the USSR rebuild after WW2.
And even if a city wasn't destroyed, it was rebuilt just for the sheer hell of it 2 or 3 times in a row during the post-war period. Chinese cities have pretty much been being rebuilt continuously since 1950. Anyone who's ever gone would know this, which you obviously haven't.
So what exactly is your point, other than you didn't learn anything about China during your US or European history classes in high school?
Having been born behind the iron curtain I do know there was no Marshall plan outside of Western Europe. But I did not know that cities in China were rebuilt 2 or 3 times for the sheer hell of it during the post-war period.
My point is that I agree with you, L.A. (like most American cities) is a city build around cars. I'm no sure about Berlin and Tokyo, but I am quite sure about the plethora of other west and east European cities I've enjoyed living in. Those cities, much like NY, are great to live in even if you don't own a car.
I was thinking more along the lines of European towns like Zurich.