>most major American cities existed and were designed to provide for the needs of its residents before the existence of the automobile
Most major American cities that existed before the car still have public transportation. NYC is a prime example of somewhere you can live without a car. Most other cities still have functioning bus systems, though not great.
It's the suburbs where you really need a car, and the development of suburbs was spurred in large part by the car. So you have your historical order wrong.
Suburbs aren't cities, though it's true that the modern suburb owes its existence to "urban renewal" initiatives which dovetailed with auto infrastructure development (hence the freeway which cuts through the historically black quarter of so many cities, which it connects to said suburbs). Additionally, many of the older small towns had public transit into cities via rail/streetcar.
Most major American cities that existed before the car still have public transportation. NYC is a prime example of somewhere you can live without a car. Most other cities still have functioning bus systems, though not great.
It's the suburbs where you really need a car, and the development of suburbs was spurred in large part by the car. So you have your historical order wrong.