Hrm. I'm in the US. I've never been car free. I walked to grad school for 6 years - but still needed a car to get groceries, or go away for the weekend (often had to go back & forth about 180 miles to do things for family). I bike to work & shops now, but still do a fair amount by car. I haven't figured out how to load my kayak on my bike and drive to the coast yet.

The public transportation system isn't all that developed in most of the US.