I can't help but think about the failures of basic human-oriented infrastructure when I can't safely ride my bike to the grocery store 2 miles from my home. I don't know what it'll take to change this in our cities, and it feels like an uphill battle when seemingly very few people care about problems like these.

"Safely" is a subjective term. Plenty of motorists are injured in MVAs on 2 mile drives to get groceries too. What cyclists should pursue is an accident rate equivalent to cars, per hour in traffic.