Things can change a lot in 10+ years; it's not going to happen quickly, but you can start incrementally making zoning changes, and as the buildings in the area turn over it'll slowly start approaching something better, which should hopefully result in people making different transportation choices.
Also, a number of places in the US are still growing and sprawling outwards; reversing that trend would have a positive effect even if none of the existing places change.
> I live around 20-25 miles from the major employment centers other than medical offices/hospitals
This is sort of the problem though. Some people prefer to live that far away, and if you do that's great, but a lot of people end up moving away from cities for economic reasons. Building more housing closer to the employment centers would allow more people to live nearby, which reduces the number of people that need to commute that far.
Also, a number of places in the US are still growing and sprawling outwards; reversing that trend would have a positive effect even if none of the existing places change.
> I live around 20-25 miles from the major employment centers other than medical offices/hospitals
This is sort of the problem though. Some people prefer to live that far away, and if you do that's great, but a lot of people end up moving away from cities for economic reasons. Building more housing closer to the employment centers would allow more people to live nearby, which reduces the number of people that need to commute that far.