This would solve itself if cars were banned. Either you would have to find a more practical place to live, the city add public transportation to the work, you find a new place to work, the work moving offices etc.
It's only a problem because you decide things has to be exactly like they are. But with other constraints the society would have landed on an other configuration.
Every solution in your second sentence either costs businesses money or costs your workforce money.
What is your solution for your economy when BOTH decide to relocate to an administrative region that DOESN'T ban cars?
I've considered other places to live in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. I found that used Japanese sports cars (I own several) were all prohibitively expensive to import/register in each. The crazy-low "total cost of ownership" for automobiles is one of several reasons that Japan is my primary base of operations/residence.
Your're right, I am looking at it through a self-centered perspective. But I think a lot of people would do the same. If you banned cars, considering how long it takes for decent public transportation to roll out in the US, you would be incentivizing people to live elsewhere. My job and work location are fixed so the only option would be to move out of the city or suffer through a miserable commute. I guess people like me would suffer and those that spend all or most of their time inside city limits would benefit.
It's only a problem because you decide things has to be exactly like they are. But with other constraints the society would have landed on an other configuration.