It's not just city centers. E.g. whole lot of London is pre-car. And yes, you'll walk for little errands, but you'll also drive a lot for many other things, often including commute, taking children to school etc.
yeah - i suppose so that the car coopted a lot of older parts too. i live in a pre-car neighborhood in the midwest, and end up driving a lot. public transport is very poor, and city center is a shell, there's nothing left to anchor the city, everything is essentially suburb, even the old parts.
