That depends on what you are looking for. There are plenty of shops for the common needs - but if you want an odd niche no small walkable area can support it. How many magic stories can your city support? Even something like a guitar shop need a very dense area for people who live in walking distance to be enough to support it. I can think of dozens of other niches - many smaller the above examples.

▲

cogman10 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> but if you want an odd niche no small walkable area can support it.

You'd be really surprised. I knew smaller cities with shops dedicated to Warhammer 40k. [1] (Surprisingly, still in business :) )

> Even something like a guitar shop need a very dense area for people who live in walking distance to be enough to support it.

A guitar shop just needs enough people interested in guitars. Being walkable doesn't mean there's no transit. Usually, walkable cities will have a city center where the shops are concentrated and if the city is big enough, you'll end up with a bus station in the city center. In fact, the referenced city has several of those shops. [2]

This isn't a large city, it's around 100,000. It's also fairly isolated. Nobody is coming to this city to get a guitar.

[1] https://maps.app.goo.gl/nzmGkPKBCJi9xCAb7

[2] https://maps.app.goo.gl/gB46tVVRa195NkNs8

▲

bluGill 3 days ago | parent [-]

My comments (this thread) were in context of 120 years ago when cars were a rich person's toy and most people lived on farms and so didn't have access to the transit that existed. That a store can make it today is different because context is different.

How many of the customers of the Warhammer store walked there from their house? How many came from a different cities because it was the closest store? The store does well because it can draw from a much larger area than a pure walking (or the limited trams of back then)

Similar for guitars - I expect a city of 100k to support 1-2 guitar stores - but I expect the majority of customers are not walking. Maybe they drive, maybe they take transit.

	▲	cogman10 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		> most people lived on farms Not in the UK but yes in the US (in the 1900s, only 10% of the UK population farmed. Most were in the service industry and manufacturing). There's also a very different city layouts in the UK vs the US. If you were a farmer in the US in the 1900s, you'd mostly likely ride a horse. > How many of the customers of the Warhammer store walked there from their house? Almost 0, but a very large percentage got there via bus and walked from the bus station to the store. For these older cities that's just how it has to be because there's no room for parking. In the context of the 1900s, biking and walking is how people would get around in the UK, they'd simply not go downtown as often. In that city in particular there are a TON of old walking trails from the outskirts to town center. I know because I walked them. You might think "Well, it's a 1 or 2 miles away, that's just too far" but honestly when all you are used to is walking it's not. It was just more expected that taking an hour long walk happens. > How many came from a different cities because it was the closest store? For that city, almost 0. It's way too isolated. Even today in england you'll find a lot of people that very rarely leave the city they were born in. > but I expect the majority of customers are not walking. Maybe they drive, maybe they take transit. Most of it will be park and walk. You are correct in assuming that they'll likely take transit or drive to a closer location. However, because not every store has parking like the US, it's most likely that they'll have to walk some distance to and from the store however they decide to get there. If you click around the shrewsbury city in google earth street view, what you'll notice is very few cars in the city center and a lot of people walking around.

▲

lbreakjai 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I live in a city of about 160k inhabitants. I live about 2 kilometers away from the hypercenter. A half-hour walk, which I wouldn't consider "walking distance".

Most of the city center is inaccessible by car. Parking your car is expensive, driving is discouraged.

Removing cars means there's more space for people. It means it's safer, quieter. I'm not in mortal panic if my 4 years old drops my hand. It means the bus isn't stuck in traffic, and is therefore really fast. It's the most vibrant place I've ever lived in. It's full of life and energy.

The city is full of small, independent shops.

A boardgames café:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Boardroom/@52.3864335,...

A guitar shop:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Alphenaar+Muziekhandel/@52...

A tabletop store, hosting MTG tournaments on a regular basis:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tabletop+Kingdom+Haarlem/@...

A store fully dedicated to expensive collectibles:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Past+Joys/@52.3798456,4.63...

There's a ton of small shops, whose names I can't remember, that I only discovered because I happened to walk past them. This creates a positive feedback loop. It's rewarding to just wander about, because you may discover something.