>Maybe two of these are worth riding a bike. This is completely different from what I saw back home (or in Germany, for that matter) - wherever I was, there were at least two shops within a 1km radius where I could buy at least basic food. A little supermarket, a baker, a butcher, a newsstand.

Places like this exist in North America. You just have to give up the large house, and multiple cars. Within half of a km, I have:
- movie theatre
- 3 coffee bars
- resturants: sushi, thai, chinese, Indian
- large hospital (also my workplace)
- several law offices
- 2 small supermarkets
- gas station

This part of Vancouver is almost like living in a small village. There is only 800 sq feet for the three of us, but so far it is enough. I marvel at my friends that move to the suburbs with gigantic houses, but they end up mostly using an area about as big as our apartment.