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The assumption here is without cars cities would be laid out exactly the same. What if there were by laws that every high rise above x floors has y retail space

by ismail 10y ago

The assumption here is without cars cities would be laid out exactly the same. What if there were by laws that every high rise above x floors has y retail space on the ground floor. In this case most of your daily needs would be serviced by a trip down. Once a week/month you may go to a larger store.

superuser2 10y ago
In San Francisco and Chicago, I experienced no shortage of tiny, expensive corner stores, restaurants, boutiques, etc. That's the kind of stuff that seems to go into the ground floors of residential towers. The hassle was accessing (the local equivalents of) Target, Kroger, Best Buy, etc.
- ismail 10y ago
  What are the problems with the small stores that you describe? - expensive? - few products? Something else? If pricing is an issue the question becomes, How do you assist small retailers compete with massive chains? A problem I have thought about quite a bit as my dad once owned a small corner shop He had to close it as the chains make it impossible to compete on price with bulk buying discounts. I believe what happens is due to the layout of our cities we end up with large chains, malls and big box retailers. It's a virtuous cycle...
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > If pricing is an issue the question becomes, > How do you assist small retailers compete with massive chains? Is the problem that they can't compete, or that they don't have to? When driving isn't the main method of getting around, but instead walking augmented by potentially high-latency public transit is the main method, the cost to the consumer of small distance differences between notionally "competing" institutions becomes quite high, which means that they have less need to actually compete with one another: they have captive hyper-local markets with effective moats.
mason240 10y ago
Being forced to live in a high rise apartment is very undesirable. Most people would choose to live in a single family house with a yard.
- vkou 10y ago
  Many people would choose to live in a royal palace - but not many would choose to pay the full cost of their decision. Cultural attitudes about apartments and raising children are just that - cultural. Inner city problems are another kettle of fish.

by ismail 10y ago

superuser2 10y ago

In San Francisco and Chicago, I experienced no shortage of tiny, expensive corner stores, restaurants, boutiques, etc. That's the kind of stuff that seems to go into the ground floors of residential towers. The hassle was accessing (the local equivalents of) Target, Kroger, Best Buy, etc.

ismail 10y ago
What are the problems with the small stores that you describe? - expensive? - few products? Something else? If pricing is an issue the question becomes, How do you assist small retailers compete with massive chains? A problem I have thought about quite a bit as my dad once owned a small corner shop He had to close it as the chains make it impossible to compete on price with bulk buying discounts. I believe what happens is due to the layout of our cities we end up with large chains, malls and big box retailers. It's a virtuous cycle...
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > If pricing is an issue the question becomes, > How do you assist small retailers compete with massive chains? Is the problem that they can't compete, or that they don't have to? When driving isn't the main method of getting around, but instead walking augmented by potentially high-latency public transit is the main method, the cost to the consumer of small distance differences between notionally "competing" institutions becomes quite high, which means that they have less need to actually compete with one another: they have captive hyper-local markets with effective moats.

mason240 10y ago

Being forced to live in a high rise apartment is very undesirable. Most people would choose to live in a single family house with a yard.

vkou 10y ago
Many people would choose to live in a royal palace - but not many would choose to pay the full cost of their decision. Cultural attitudes about apartments and raising children are just that - cultural. Inner city problems are another kettle of fish.