> I'm within easy walking distance of a bus stop. However, the bus goes mostly east and west, rather than north to where I work. This is the US? I'll happily g

> I'm within easy walking distance of a bus stop. However, the bus goes mostly east and west, rather than north to where I work. This is the US? I'll happily grant you that the bus system is terrible. > I could also technically walk to a convenience store or perhaps a supermarket. It doesn't take that long to walk a mile or two. That's way too far. Don't beat yourself for not walking. > The fact that it is, means that's where the statistics show up indirectly. Sure. That's a bummer. Hopefully we can fix that someday. > Furthermore, as a matter of geometry, any city that is more or less a roundish blob, is going to have more space near the edges than the center. So it seems plausible to me that it's more representative of a city lifestyle. The very center in several cities I've been in is almost completely commercial. This pattern: (big towers?) commerical monoculture in the center, gradual peetering off, is very (North) American. A lot of other places have stricter transitions at the city boundary, and less division within the city.