Being European, I had the choice to live in a city that is very friendly to bikes, pedestrians, and has very good public transit. I also deliberately chose an apartment that was so close to my university it’s trivial to go there in the morning, and I have access to a wide transit network if I need to go further.

Honestly, if I lived somewhere car dependent, I think I would just bite the bullet and drive until I can move somewhere better. This is a pretty bad answer but I don’t know what else to say.

I would probably try to get a cheap and reliable electric car to save as much as possible on maintenance costs.