I never doubted that. The point I am trying to make is the prevalence of metropolitan city culture in Western European countries (and I think in Canada) vs the prevalence of provincial small-town (aka Podunk) culture in the United States. Stated differently, in Europe, the urban metropolis is what people aspire to culturally and where they want to be (even if they cannot afford to actually live there) - while in the US it is what people try to escape from, and their cultural and living aspirations center on "small town America."
Demographic distribution alone does not tell that story, but it is a good point to start. Perhaps more people live in Paris suburbs than within the city limits proper (I do not know the stats of the to of my head), but the suburbs are a well integrated extension of the city, connected to it by an elaborate network of public transit allowing people to come to the city for entertainment, shopping, recreation, dining etc.
With the exception of NYC, most US cities are like donuts - hollow inside with the majority of the population living in the suburban ring and staying there for shopping recreation, etc. There are few connections between city and the suburbs and those that exist are geared to move people quickly in and out and interact with the city as little as possible. In a way, US cities are like medieval cities in reverse, surrounded by walls and a moat to keep the "undesirables" in rather than out.
In Europe, the status symbol is an apartment in the central district of a major metropolis (e.g. Paris or London), in the US - it is a MacMansion in the sticks, as far from the city as possible. These are not just geographical differences, but mental ones as well.
Wojtek