Some anecdotes from my neighborhood in a quiet mostly residential part of Tokyo (All of this is about a 20 minute walk from the famous "Shibuya Scramble" super-

Some anecdotes from my neighborhood in a quiet mostly residential part of Tokyo (All of this is about a 20 minute walk from the famous "Shibuya Scramble" super-busy intersection that you see all the time): - I walk past two or three different convenience stores on my 8 minute walk to the train even though my neighborhood mostly looks like it's residential. - All of the buildings around me are either very large single-family homes, or medium sized 3 floor multi-unit apartments. Almost nothing higher than 3 stories. There is also a school and an embassy on my block. - The very large estate owned by a single family that has lived there for over 30 years that was next to my building was torn down last year. They are constructing an apartment building. That single lot will go from 1 unit to 26 units. Most units are single bedroom and will not have a parking spot and will be priced from about $500,000 up to $1.5M for some of the larger ones. I think there will be 10-15 parking spots in the basement underground. - A guy down the street from me has set up a vegetable shop in front of his house. He puts out locally obtained vegetables with prices and you take what you want and drop the money in a slot in a cardboard box he has in his open window. People running little side-businesses like this out of their apartments seems pretty common. - Buildings tend to have walls that are built right up to the street edge forming a 'corridor' feel. - Streets are so narrow when I first got here I couldn't believe they were 2 way streets. It might take cars 10-20 seconds to pass each other going the opposite way because of negotiating the walls. - It's extremely quiet and peaceful (except for the construction next door)