[Micanthus]

I live in an area like this and it's great. Off the top of my head, within half a kilometer of my apartment there's:

- 4 grocery stores, including a small turkish one - a café - 2 fast food places - a nail studio - 2 hair salons - a school - 3 bars (4 if you include an ice cream place that has bar nights in the winter sometimes) - a tailor - a smokeshop

I'm sure more that I don't frequent. My building itself doesn't have a shop at the bottom, but most buildings around me do. The only necessities that I have to go further at all for are a pharmacy and a hardware store, and they're not far.

I wouldn't say I live in the middle of the city either, kind of on the edge of the "high density" area. As in where I am there are only apartments and businesses but if you go 2 blocks further away from the city center there are also single-family homes. And they benefit from the amenities provided by us apartment-dwellers as well.