> Car dependent design predates homes being prisons
Part of the home-as-prison is from fear of being outside/out of reach. That has existed in large pockets of our society for a very long time. Cars have not improved that reality for many people and have actually made it worse in many ways. eg: Predators now have as much range as they can drive in a day... or rich predators have as much range as they can fly in a day.
The case of Lenore Skenazy aka "America's Worst Mom" shows that it's the mindset that's the problem.
I don't have the link, but there's a study showing that Americans are split on whether 12-year-olds should be supervised when playing in a park.