[ryukafalz]

>but my neighborhood was so far removed from other places and stores that there was no other place to go

This is probably why. It's less clear cut when there's an abundance of places to go and things to do within easy walking/biking/transit distance.

[asciimov]

Indeed.

I'm always fascinated by the idea of high density cities, because that kind of lifestyle is so foreign to me. While I would love to have stores and restaurants that stay open past 9 pm, I don't think I want to live in such close quarters to so many other people.

[ryukafalz]

Even in the suburbs here in the Northeast, things are physically close enough to each other that you could get to quite a lot without a car. We often don't build in such a way that it's comfortable to do so though.

I've just moved to a suburb of Philadelphia. I'm on a quiet residential street, but there's a train station to Philly about an 8 minute bike ride away (with trains every 7ish minutes at rush hour), and the route is reasonably comfortable. Likewise there's a main street about a 5 minute ride away with several restaurants and shops, and the neighboring towns are similar. (Riding on the main street itself is less comfortable, but there's at least a documented plan to add bike infrastructure.)

There's also a big-box shopping center that would be a 12 minute ride away, but there's currently no safe route there without a car. That's a policy choice though, there's nothing about the distances involved that would make it infeasible.

Despite all this, I would guess that my neighborhood doesn't fundamentally look much different than those you're familiar with. It's maybe slightly more compact, but unless you're really far out there my guess is it's just better-connected.

Not showing my actual house for obvious reasons but this is representative: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MidgjesXcKjgTFnt9