Yes, but many cities have bike paths/lanes. Austin has fewer than I'd like but enough of them.

You can hitch a trailer on them, and carry a toddler pretty easily, but yeah you're not going to do a big grocery run with a bike .. unless you have a trailer on it and are looking for a workout.

True.

IME except for high wind and snow, or rain if your traveling on unpaved roads, you can bike in most conditions. But, I've only lived places where the weather was mild most of the year.