I think that's what the parent is saying. Everybody wants to score virtue points for loving their feet or bike but at the end of the day you need to compliment that with some sort of public transit network to give them the distance covering power they need to be truly practical.
I don't think anyone was arguing that. We obviously have to cover distances that are not practical for walking, so public transportation goes hand in hand with a walkable city.
That is still a tremendous improvement over having to drive everywhere. The quality of life is so much better, it's almost indescribable.
