I used to live less than 100' from a small grocery store and it was awesome. I really missed that proximity once I moved and had to drive to the store again. It was a genuine timesaver.

I agree, when I lived close to a grocer it was amazing and that is the absolute biggest thing I miss being a suburbanite. Beer runs were so much less complicated and my neighbors annoy me so I could avoid borrowing the proverbial cup of sugar.

I've thought I should open a suburban bodega right in the neighborhood. But with lot sizes being fairly large and households being fairly small, i doubt I would get enough traffic since I couldn't compete with discount grocers and Walmart.

C'est la vie, I bought a muscly convertible to enjoy these interstitial commutes.

Me too. I was ok paying the premium if I could run across the street for some flour and eggs. It was one of the reasons we chose to live where we did, though naturally it closed down shortly after we signed the mortgage.

When my wife was in college we had a tiny apt-owned convenience store in our parking lot of our apt. It was really really small. The milk was from a local dairy and was priced as low as any grocery store. Eggs were an okay price. Most everything else was very expensive. But it was the best. "Oh, we're out of milk... be back in 2 minutes..."

A friend of mine used to live in an apartment complex where the entire bottom floor was an Asian grocery. Not a dinky corner store either, it was a whole city block. Can confirm it was awesome.