Public Transportation and Smart Growth

... of grocery stores, restaurants, and public transportation.

It's not an unpleasant way to live, not at all.

My wife and I live in a densely populated area of mixed housing, everything from single family homes to large three story apartment buildings. Unfortunately this neighborhood was built in the automobile age when commercial and residential zoning were kept separate. We're about a mile from the nearest grocery stores and restaurants.

In our downtown, literally Main Street, there are all sorts of restaurants, a movie theater, bookstores, and other shops lining the street, many of these shops having apartments above them. Adjacent streets are mostly residential. Rents downtown are higher than they are in our neighborhood.

If living in these "15 minute" neighborhoods is less desirable than suburban living why does it cost more?