Americans have to drive everywhere due to that infrastructure, public transportation is shit here in Jacksonville in addition to its being the largest US city landwise (spread out as FUCK). It isn't uncommon for me to drive 25-30 miles to the beaches to hang out with my friends (it can be 60 miles roundtrip).
Where you live, 100 miles is a very long distance, but I travel about 200 miles every weekday to transport my daughter to and home from school.
That's why I said you would have had it easy if the US had sensible infrastructure, but because of the incredible abundance of real estate and cheap fuel, the US has built enormous sprawling cities with very little public transport, while in Europe with little space and expensive fuel, we've built compact, efficient cities with good public transport. I can walk to the shops in 5 minutes to buy groceries, or get a bus to the local supermarket if I need a wider selection, though I prefer to get my shopping delivered, which again is possible because of the compact nature of even our suburbs. It's quicker to get the train into Glasgow than to drive in, and while most medium-distance journeys are quicker and simpler in a car, they're usually practical via public transport too.
The US has backed itself into a corner, and hearing people in the US complain that the fuel prices are bankrupting them is similar to hearing people complain about property damage after building in an earthquake/forest fire/tornado/hurricane zone. I know that individually you don't have much choice about it, but as a society, you've really shot yourselves in the foot.
