Or rather, his living in NYC particularly has a lot to do with his age, social status and preferences. People like him prefer big cities because they don't want to own cars. So it's the other way around.
That's a pretty bold generalization. "People like him" prefer big cities for a lot of diverse reasons, most of which are probably not that they do not want to own a car. Not needing to own a car is a result of the convenience of a big city--having everything you need within walking/transit distance. That is the reason I live in NYC.
As far as I am concerned the single biggest thing we as a family have done to improve quality of life is to arrange things so that my wife and I both walk to work and our son can walk to school.
