> It all works here because the city was built densely to begin with, and because they made the smart decision back in the 60s, when it looked like car culture was going to take over, of revamping the zoning laws and permitting the construction of housing just about anywhere, which made it more profitable to build housing and other buildings than parking lots, which made it extremely inconvenient to use a car.
Being leveled during World War 2 by sustained allied bombing likely helped with this.
Huh? No: the European cities leveled by bombing were, mostly, rebuilt exactly the way they were laid out before. Go look at downtown Nuremburg, for instance: they built it to look exactly as it did before. The area outside downtown is much more car-friendly, though, but that part wasn't populated pre-war anyway.
Being leveled during World War 2 by sustained allied bombing likely helped with this.