Absolutely agree. For most of America, collision spaces are reduced to where you shop leading to a very small social bubble of like-minded individuals.

I noticed that in my smaller town in America, for most, the collision space was Walmart (the only grocery store in the city). But if you were wealthy, you were more likely to drive to another town to shop at an actual grocery store. So then you didn't run into most of the town who were shopping at Walmart. It certainly leads to a separation of classes.

Now I live in Eastern Europe and it is much more like the article states.

I also wonder about the role of weather and air conditioning/central heating. Americans just don't seem to like to go outside much, especially when it is either hot or cold. In Europe, I have found that people are much more tolerant of especially hot weather. Air conditioning is rare and most restaurants have outside dining available. Of course, this may not be true of Northern European countries. I am in Southeastern Europe and here people love being outside as much as possible.