I think, realistically, anything up to 10 years ago can run most distros. Some better than others, of course, because of the DE load.
I’ve got kde neon on a 2013 MacBook Air and it’s great. I also have put Ubuntu budgie and SDesk on an old HP Chromebook with 4gb of ram. And, obviously the 16gb disk is crippling, but it runs better than expected haha.
I wouldn’t be able to get to work or buy groceries without a car. I also refuse to pay the cost to live in a walkable area, as everything is significantly more expensive. The change required to create a city that is both affordable and livable without a car is impossible at this point.