I've never really lived in a major city and I do 90% of my grocery shopping at a supermarket in the middle of a smaller one. The greater metro area of the three

I've never really lived in a major city and I do 90% of my grocery shopping at a supermarket in the middle of a smaller one. The greater metro area of the three smaller cities here combined is at best like a million people. The area where I live has been compared to Appalachia. The grocery store that my family shopped at when I was growing up is in the "worse part of town", at least these days. An Indian restaurant that was a local fixture for over 30 years opened in the early 1980s. These days there are multiple specialty grocery stores, as well as many more Indian and Chinese (not just American style) restaurants, some of which have "fusion" and regional dishes, not just the same old. When I go to a supermarket in a wealthy area up north, things look new but cardboardy like I remember from northern VA, but no, I don't see a big difference in the produce, despite what a stock cliche it is. Quite possibly more "processed foods" at that. What they do have is expensive cheesecakes made by nuns. There are co-op, vegan, etc. grocery stores and restaurants. I could get a whole durian without going out to the suburbs even. Again, it's not, say, Seattle, but it's not 1980 anymore either.