I've lived in the Metro Detroit suburbs, and downtown Detroit is the spot right now. The ability to get whatever you need, yes even groceries, within walking distance is a reality. Walking to Tigers games, enjoying the nightlife, eating at amazing restaurants, and enjoying the city are a regular part of life.
I live in downtown Detroit. I do not want to live in the suburbs.
"The ability to get whatever you need, yes even groceries, within walking distance is a reality."
No offence, but having lived in about 4 major US cities (Detroit not included), that seems to be setting the bar awfully low. Being able to buy groceries is just a basic necessity, and restaurants/nightlife is something every city has.
He/she is coming from the Detroit suburbs though. Everything there is spread out and you really need a car to get anywhere. I used to drive ~20 minutes to get to the movie theater that I frequented. Granted, I lived within walking distance of a grocery store even in the suburbs, but that just happened to be the case.
Yeah, but surely even people from the suburbs realize that that sort of thing is expected in nearly every city... after all, the city isn't the suburbs.
Wikipedia says St Louis had 353k inhabitants; how can a city of that size not have grocery store? Not all of them could be eating out every single meal? Or is this for some specific definition of 'grocery store'?
The parent comment is referring to downtown in particular - of course the city has grocery stores, but many cities have few or no grocery options in the central business district, as suburbia sucked the life from downtown in the 80's and 90's.
A lot of people aren't very conscious about this kind of a decision and are used to a lifestyle of driving multiple miles before getting to a grocery store.
I must admit I don't know what it is like to live like that. Maybe if you only go shopping once a week (or even just every two weeks), it is not too bad.
I actually live about 1/2 mile from a great grocery store but regularly (~once per week) drive 2.5 miles to the greatest grocery store. It's not so bad. It's even easier to go that far or farther for people in the suburbs with fast roads or highways that go to their neighborhood-ish grocery store, rather than my town of Berkeley which has weird traffic calming patterns to try to actively discourage me from driving to the Berkeley Bowl West.
It is still sort of surreal that right next to the Tiger's stadium there are a bunch of condos, but right next to the condos are a bunch of overgrown/condemned buildings. Also, I've been at the waterfront for the freedom fireworks (combined July 1 and July 4 fireworks display) on the Windsor side of the river and it was a pleasant experience. I'd never consider doing the same on the Detroit side of the river.
Though I should note that I haven't lived in the area since 2005, but most of my family still lives there.
Edit: Here's what I'm talking about. There are rows of condos right by the intersection of I-75 and Woodward Ave, but to the north there are some empty fields with abandoned houses. At one point those lots (which are now empty) were lined with houses.
And if you stay in the Green Zone, then Baghdad isn't all that bad, either. If you stick to the embassies, Addis Ababa is actually rather safe. Stay away from the favelas and Rio de Janeiro is a lovely place.
I live in downtown Detroit. I do not want to live in the suburbs.