The village I grew up in is roughly 1000 years old.

The wall around it are 800 years old.

Mall strip in the US depress me very much.

I cannot imagine what living in downtown Chicago is like. On top of being prohibitively expensive, where would you shop for groceries or other domestic services? Its like a double whammy of expensive living and poor access.

I live in downtown Chicago. I'm one block away from Trader Joe's and Osco Jewel. Cost of living in downtown Chicago is cheaper than NYC/SF and maybe even LA.

Within 20 minutes of walking, I can get to two separate Targets, Whole Foods and even a Home Depot.

River North is insanely expensive even with NYC/SF to compare to.

It's been a while since I visited Chicago, but I stayed in a hotel downtown. Not only was public transit excellent and easy to use, but walking was a delight. I don't remember there being a grocery story anywhere, but Google Maps shows quite a few. Chicago's downtown may have a lot of problems including being expensive and a high crime rate, but poor access seems inaccurate.

I live in downtown Chicago with a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and a Jewel Osco all within 3 blocks of me. I'm not sure what makes you think there is a lack of access in this area. I live here because I love how accessible everything I want to do is.

Chicago has a large area that can be considered "downtown". There's the Loop at the center, which didn't have a lot of living amenities except restaurants and entertainment when I was there but is not very large either, then there is the whole outer downtown area from the South Loop to Lincoln Park. That's about 6-8 square miles. In that area there's everything you need and very little is more than 3/4 mile walk from you. There are buses and trains everywhere. I never wanted a car while living there, but rented a pickup truck or moving van for a day every now and again, and I actually lived a little further north in Lakeview.

Decade-long Chicago resident here: used public transit, biking, and walking exclusively and never needed a car the entire time. Wish Chicago's density would be legal in more American cities.

> Wish Chicago's density would be legal

This really is the most ridiculous thing about America. The Loop and River North are really nice! And yet most of the country has decided that this should be simply forbidden from occurring anywhere else.

>where would you shop for groceries or other domestic services?

What kind of weird question is this? "Downtowns" are _more_ accessible for people, not less. That's why they are more expensive by the foot.

Are you under the belief that there are no markets or services in cities? This seems like a perspective you can get from only living in the suburban non-sense that America has constructed.

You'd be surprised. Maybe not Chicago, but there are a lot of cities with zero grocery stores. It was big news in my Midwestern city when a Meijer went in downtown because people living downtown used to have to drive or take the bus outside of the city to do their grocery shopping.

It's always a big question in my city, "can you live here without a car?" and most of it has historically hinged on grocery shopping.

I think we're from the same city. However I was fortunate enough to live within walking distance of a market a few miles outside of downtown before moving.

>It was big news in my Midwestern city

What city?

Grand Rapids MI

Why presume what I believe? I live in the city and the closer I get to the core of the city the fewer venues there are for domestic living and everything turns into restaurants and offices.

>Why presume what I believe?

It was a question. You asked the question, and it can only be asked as a non-rhetorical question if it is predicated on ignorance and some a priori perspective.

>I live in the city

Are you talking about an "actual" city, or an urban sprawl?