Well: figuring out cause and effect is hard. E.g.: "They shop at the strip-mall because it's probably closer and more convenient to them. That's the issue." T

Well: figuring out cause and effect is hard. E.g.: "They shop at the strip-mall because it's probably closer and more convenient to them. That's the issue." There's more than one way to interpret that. An alternate interpretation that I will offer: the strip grocery store is cheaper and bureaucratically much easier to build (the nature of green field development), and the logistics of using that store are easier (just more space), so that big-box suburban-style stores have driven other kinds of stores out of business, and suppressed the building of new stores. Maybe that's because of subsidies and whatnot, though even if so it's not clear that removal of those subsidies would reverse the trend. Now I'm not just trying to be cynical and pro-suburb. I don't choose to live in suburbs, and yet we still do a lot of our shopping there, and I believe our and many other people's decisions are based on rational reasons. Reasons based in the-way-things-are, not the-way-things-could-be, but still rational. I lived in Chicago for a long time too, and there the suburbs were simply too far away. And a lot of things are a complete pain in the ass to do in that environment. Walking 20 minutes with your groceries in a handcart is not awesome, and most people aren't going to be very excited about that option. Not because they are unable to see the benefit, but because it's tiring and cold to walk 20 minutes with groceries, you can't get a full load, if you have a child everything is twice as hard, and if you have a baby then it's just plain shitty. I think if density and urban environments are going to take back growth from the suburbs, we need new forms to support that. The corner store won't do it. The city big box store is just aping the suburbs. But we need something new. One option frankly is many fewer stores. Amazon works great in the city. This is contrary to what many Livable Cities proponents want (local business), but personally I don't care about commerce. Commerce is a pathetic excuse for public life, and if it is automated away then so be it. I guess it's the same desire: if the old way of public life doesn't seem good enough, instead of regressing let's consider new forms.