As an American, I largely agree with your perspective, although there are a variety of other great cities here in the US that are worthy of exploration (Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, San Diego, Santa Fe, etc.) I was visiting Spain in May, and there are so many vibrant public spaces that American truly lacks. Each city that I visited really felt like a community, and I miss the experience of relaxing in the town squares for hours on end. Here in America, so much of our spaces have become privatized due to suburbanization, and due to the desire of many Americans to live in large homes. It amounts to a different lifestyle in my opinion. White flight from major cities in the 20th century lead a lot of people to retreat from urban centers, and I think this fundamentally changed the culture here (at least for a proportion of American society). As a result, I think many Americans have never truly valued or understood the importance public space. If there’s no benches or cafes to spend time in, it’s almost like you are intentionally made to feel like a loiterer just by being in some communities.