Good luck going car free anywhere in the Midwest outside of Chicago- and I mean at all, period. Even if you do, you still don't have the opportunity to experience the other- say, if you have friends with cars...which sounds pretty plausible to me(SF or otherwise)...if you think public transportation in the Bay Area is bad...every single city in the Midwest(outside of Chicago) is shockingly bad. You can commute 5-20 miles round trip by bicycle if you want if you feel like having your life threatened by motorists on an almost weekly basis(I speak from experience).
FWIW, my confrontations on public transportation haven't been any worse than confrontations on the road (rare occurrences; current 60-mile commute, 24 years driving).
A car is very much a rite-of-passage here still, sure. For those that can afford it (that is the bad part about it), it's the most freeing, invigorating thing you can own at 16.
Being car-free seems completely asinine here; you're going to need it for something. That's the lifestyle here. No worse than a bicycle. And one day, when we can go emission-free; it really won't be.
