Added 1. _Very_ important.
In the U.S., if you don't live in a few select cities, there isn't much of a public transportation system (some of why that is has its own interesting story). I grew up in Tucson Arizona, where the city is over 60 km across, making a car essential to get where you needed to go. I currently live in rural North Carolina and drive 50km to work every day with only one stoplight on the way (country roads). This allows me to live somewhat near a city (about 75 km from Raleigh) and still work in my career of choice, where my company happens to be located in a very small town opposite from where the city is.
ERic