I live in a place like that in Lexington, Mass. I commute by bicycle (or wimp out and drive in bad weather) about 8 miles. Two groceries, the elementary schoo

I live in a place like that in Lexington, Mass. I commute by bicycle (or wimp out and drive in bad weather) about 8 miles. Two groceries, the elementary school, three preschools, an amazing cookie shop, three pizza places, and a fantastic Chinese place are walkable. Oh, and two dentists and an eye doctor, plus your selection of churches. A bus line runs from there, every 15 minutes in rush hour, to the terminus of a subway line. Oh, and a public library. Now, it’s not perfect: the T breaks down all the time due to criminal underinvestment, my bike commute is noticeably faster than driving through the traffic, the mass transit schedule is such that any route with multiple transfers is insane. But I’m going to guess that the Italian and Dutch versions of this aren’t perfect either; it’s a matter of deciding which flaws to live with.