Inspired by this thread lamenting a lack of convenient commercial services in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Let’s talk about the flipside for those of us who are lucky enough to live with lots of consumer options. What amazing stores and amenities are within walking distance of where you live? Walking distance only – no bus, cab or train rides.
In addition to more mundane things like dry cleaners, sporting goods stores, pet stores, coffee shops, sushi bars, and delis, I can walk to:
It depends on what you mean by walking distance. In the traditional sense, I can only walk to a couple of horse farms down the street. However, if I lost my car for some reason, I could theoretically walk to a supermarket, hotels, and a few bars among other things. They are only about 3 miles away but the road to go there is fairly busy and doesn’t have any sidewalks but it could be done.
I can walk to The Cloisters, The Monkey Room, and various bars/restaurants in the area. I am in NYC though so from almost every single subway stop you can walk a few blocks and find something awesome.
Someplace you can get to in 10-15 minutes without too much hassle. Close enough that you might walk there just for the hell of it if it was a nice day.
A fine public library
Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace
Frank Lloyd Wright’s family home and architecture studio
Unity Temple, Frank Lloyd Wright’s first public building
At least 2 dozen restaurants of various cuisines
A local community theater Pumpkin Moon
We live in a condo off one of the main hubs, so I can walk to practically anything. I can’t think of any commonly used good or service I can’t find in some form within your 15 minute parameter.
I guess the most unusal thing is a pet store that has more different reptiles and amphibians than the San Diego Zoo, literally. At one time they had Galapagos tortoise that was somewhat smaller than a VW bug, but cost about the same amount. (He got sold, but they still have some smaller ones, if you’re interested.)
Nine different houses of worship, except I’m an atheist.
A good Shop Rite grocery.
A good strip mall.
As of last month, a McDonald’s, a Wendy’s and a Rite-Aid drug store.
A laundromat.
A thrift store.
A variety of restaurants, including one Indonesian one.
A WalMart, as well as a couple of other supermarkets.
A cinema that charges just $1.50 a ticket for movies after their first release.
A Half Price Books store.
A small Indian grocery story
A small Japanese grocery store.
A small Mexican grocery store.
An airport (well – the corner of one: the actual terminal is more than what I’d call walking distance, and it’s not an airport with scheduled passenger services)
And, at a pinch, I can walk (and have walked) to and from work – it takes me about 70 minutes each way.
8 coffee shops (hey, this is Seattle)
a public (branch) library
a movie theater
about 2 dozen cheap ethnic restaurants
my workplace
2 florists
3 supermarkets
2 shoe repair establishments
2 video stores
4 churches
2 bookstores
3 u-mail-it joints
a handful of convenience stores
a hospital
several banks
If you expand the OP requirements to, say, 25 minutes, I can add more movie theaters, more bookstores, more coffee shops, and probably a few more restaurants.
There’s a lot we can walk to in this area (South Santa Rosa.) Along with a whole bunch of fast food restaurants, muffler shops, auto part stores and various other misc. places we have:
2 Hispanic grocery stores
3 Asian markets
A donut shop that as far as I can tell is open 24/7.
Costco/Target/Best Buy/Trader Joe’s/Bevmo/and a whole bunch more.
The Sonoma County Fairgrounds and Racetrack
The Jockey Club - Off Track Betting facility/lounge
4 taquerias and 2 nicer Mexican restaurants
Denny’s
4 tattoo parlors
2 head shops
1 bar - The Zoo. An awesome dive bar with a horse shoe pit in the back and a lucky crane machine filled with stuffed animals and porn DVDs.
And a liquor store/deli that on any given night can serve as the place to score a prostitute, drugs, or a free HIV test.
the grocery store
the library
Family Dollar
a Latino market
a bakery
a wine shop
a DVD rental place
a bunch of laundromats
a variety of restaurants
three bars–one trendy and pretentious, one faux-Irish and godawful, and one great
I love my neighborhood. Being able to walk to amenities was a huge reason we bought the house we did.
A convenience store
A half way decent bakery (but not the best in town)
several dry cleaners
a decent Mexican restaurant
a doctor’s office (several of these–none of them are my doctor)
if I jump the chain link fence, a public golf course/pool etc (course fronts my front yard)
A Baker’s Square (restaurant)
a novelty shop
a resale shop for kid’s clothes
a StoneCold Creamery (or whatever it’s called–don’t like their ice cream)
an art supply store (small business)
jewelry store
my youngest’s school
our church
a nice bike trail and nature trail
gas station
If I go 20 minutes, much more opens up to me: the commuter train station, the library, several diner type restaurants, a travel agency, village hall basically the downtown district.
I can and have walked to (without much strain)
two strip malls (actually bigger than average) and one indoor mall.
My Saturn dealer
The mechanic I actually use. When we take the car there, we usually take the dog and walk her back.
A Denny’s, a Wendy’s, a BK, a McDonalds and a KFC.
Two large supermarkets (one in each strip mall)
A Ritz Camera, two Targets, two multiplexes, an Olive Garden, a decent seafood restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, an upscale sushi place, several Starbucks, a Borders, a Barnes & Nobles, a Noah’s Bagel, another bagel place about to open, a Hallmark store, a big hardware store, and an excellent toy and hobby store.
All this is just gar enough away to not be annoying and close enough to be convenient. When my wife had eye problems, and couldn’t drive, she did a lot of shopping on foot, just for the exercise. We’ve thought about starting a project to eat in every place within easy walking distance - it would take a while.
Just a bit beyond the easy radius is another grocery store, BART, a big hospital, and our Afghan district with a ton more restaurants.
Except for going to work, I could get along pretty well without a car.
I’m walking distance (less than 1 mi) from a large regional mall.
There’s a zillion restaurants and every other type of store imaginable. I often walk to dogs up to my favorite bakery for breakfast on the weekends (when it’s not 108°, like today…).
I have always said I would be happy being walking distance to a coffee, a paper and a date scone on the weekends. But from where we live now, I have just about everything - the only thing is I can’t walk to the beach.
I can walk to (in between 3-20 minutes):
The river
The boathouse (renting boats and selling icecream)
Collingwood Children’s Farm, and the twice monthly farmer’s market
Several km worth of walking paths through bush along the river
A playground
2 primary schools (useful for when we have kidlets)
The train station into the Melbourne CBD (20 minute ride)
The trams into Melbourne CBD
A gelato store - a daily visit on weekends in summer!
2 DVD stores
3 beauty salons
Several gift shops and boutique clothing stores
3 Greek patisserie stores - habited by small Greek mamas and old men drinking coffee
1 Italian grocer - I buy all our fresh food here
1 Italian supermarket - all the Italian cheese, pasta, meat and wine **Boy from Mars/Italy ** can eat
1 movie theatre
2 pharmacies
A bakery
A pilates studio (although I use one in town)
An ATM from my bank - yay, no bank charges
A fairy shop (our local shopping strip is a wonderful combination of small girls in wings, lesbians and Greek mamas).
2 Indian restaurants - open until 11, great for late nights after work when we can’t be bothered cooking
2 Fish and chip shops
Numerous other cafes and bars, which we are slowly working our way through
A garden centre
A building supplies hire place (walking distance I know since we’ve done it twice with a roof ladder)
A bookstore
A post office
One bank (soon to be two banks!!)
One convenience store/video rental/gas station/car repair place
One tomato farm
One furniture manufacture place
One diner
One farm auction place
One farm stand/pick-your-own
One small grocery store
One post office
One strange sundries-type store that seems like a front for something
One church
One insurance agency
One family counseling place
