... to do errands, outside of major cities. If suburbanites do walk, they do it for exercise, and they will usually use a 3-wheeler for that. In cities, strollers that can be taken on buses and into the subway are the most popular; which is why Maclarens, Peg Plikos and Combis are the best sellers in NYC, Chicago and San Francisco. Those city dwellers are more likely to use a sling or carrier than a stroller with a small child, though.
I'm a first-generation American; most of my family live in the UK. I pushed my dolls in a monster Silver Cross that came here by boat with my mother in 1951. I'm very familiar with the 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 pram designs sold in the UK, and while I agree that they are very comfy and versatile, they are just awkward to haul about. Generally speaking, if it cannot easily go into the boot of a car, it won't sell well in the US, though there are a few Anglophiles here who will import a Silver Cross just so that people will be impressed with the big British pram. Also, th majority of Americans are cheap about strollers, and will accept utterly abysmal quality, because they don't use them outdoors very often.
I recently had that reversible-handle discussion with a cousin of mine, and I agree that while that part of that design was good, just about everything else about it was awful, and the weight wasn't the half of it. The thing I hated most about the full-sized American designs from a few years back was how low to the ground they were. Now I hate the so-called "rugged look" that mandates lots of swoopy molded plastic body parts mated to big knobby tires, and capped with a dome-shaped hood; all of which make most new American strollers look and handle like tanks! Baby is hidden in there somewhere, but it's not easy to see where. The carseat on top is supposed to serve when baby is facing you, and there is a hood on that, too, of course.
I don't think that the advice not to use a carseat outside of the car will catch on in the US. The primary reason I have seen for that advice is the avoidance of flattening the back of a child's head. That particular subject is a sore one with doctors here, as it was long-held US doctrine to put babies to sleep on their tummies, and they are just now getting people to finally put them on their backs to help avoid SIDS. They won't even talk about the flat-head thing for fear that people will put children back on their tummies again. I did see that Jane is now marketing a carseat in the UK that opens out flat, but I don't expect such designs to be approved here for general use.
I actually own the closest thing to a pram that I know of that was made here recently, and I like it even though its practical uses are limited. Now that DS is too old for it I've loaned it to many friends, because it is a lifesaver with a colicky child. It is a Cosco Rock-n-Roller, which has a suspended cot that rocks as you walk. That said, though, it is absolutely impractical for travel, because it is huge, it is heavy, and it tends to come apart whilst folded (the cot comes off the mounts. It doesn't happen when it is open, though.) I've seen a few of them in use at WDW, but I have to assume that those people brought them in via a very large vehicle.
I think that you will like the new Chicco, which again, is cheaper in the UK than in the US. I have several cousins who are quite happy with theirs. I have a Pliko instead because I got it for half-nothing; I bought the floor model from a store that should never have offered Peg Perego in the first place; their clientele didn't have that kind of budget to spend. I do have a Chicco, though--a Fly3, which I like, but it is hard to handle with a heavier child. (Also, I like a 5-pt harness, as DS was an escape artist when he was small, & that one has a 3-pt. Americans don't make decent walking reins, either, but that is another topic.)
I put my buggy in a fabric tube when travelling, to protect it from airline handling abuses. I made the tube; it is water-resistant fabric in a bright yellow, with elastic at either end, and velcro down the seam. It has "BABY BUGGY -- HANDLE WITH CARE" stenciled onto it in nice large letters. The wheels and handles stick out from the ends so that it is easy to handle and roll down the ramps, but the tube prevents accidental opening in transit.
So far it has survived several transatlantic trips in that tube, so it seems effective.
