[jacobgkau]

> or into the first floor of your apartment complex.

I wouldn't trust a cafe built into an apartment complex. I'd expect it to be low-quality, over-priced food placed specifically to try and make a quick buck off people who don't know any better or who physically can't get somewhere better.

You're right that it goes beyond car culture (and zoning laws are part of car culture), but I think it also goes beyond zoning laws. A lack of a social contract between people (individually) and businesses these days is probably involved, too. All these things are interrelated.

[t-writescode]

I’m literally surrounded by these shops, as is anyone in any town that doesn’t depend on suburbia. It’s *wonderful* and the prices are good.

I’m eating a whole dinner for about $10 tonight, out. Easily like 1300 calories of very delicious food.

In the PNW.

[jacobgkau]

You're "literally surrounded" by cafes built into the first floor of your apartment complex? Because that's what I was very clearly talking about. Not shops within walking distance.

(I didn't ask and don't care if you think your cheap meal's "very delicious," by the way. That's not the main indicator of quality. Many Americans would call a Big Mac "very delicious.")

[PlatoIsADisease]

Maybe consider that the overpriced part is fine because you are paying for the time you save.

There are many ways to look at things

-t. not an Absurdist, but sometimes I use the tools.

[jacobgkau]

There's a limit to the convenience factor. Fast food used to be cheap because it was faster than real food. Now it's expensive, and less real than it was to start with. A hip no-name cafe owned by a huge conglomerate charging $17 for a microwaved sandwich or something is objectively a bad deal.

Ensuring you never have to leave the comfort of your apartment complex is also of questionable relevance to solving loneliness/getting people to meet each other.

> -t. not an Absurdist, but sometimes I use the tools.

Did you accidentally paste part of a different comment or something?

[SchemaLoad]

Only if it's a rare novelty. If having a cafe near by is just the norm, it isn't any more expensive.

[jacobgkau]

I didn't say "near by," I said "built into an apartment complex," which is one of the things the person I replied to threw out casually as an option.