One thing I can&#x27;t fathom about cities in North America is this sharp division between residential areas and shopping areas.<p>I&#x27;m by no means a world expert, but the places I&#x27;ve been to (Middle East where I grew up, Japan which I visited a couple of times) don&#x27;t have this sharp distinction. Sure, there are residential areas and there are shopping areas, but every residential area will have many small shops here and there. You don&#x27;t need a car to shop for groceries. You can just go down the street and there&#x27;s likely a small store within 10-15 minutes walking distance that will have most of the things you need.<p>In North America it seems rather normal to have blocks and blocks of nothing but houses. To buy groceries, you need a car drive (anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes) to get to some plaza (or a mall) with big name stores like Wal-Mart or Target.<p>This has always bothered me. I think the only exception is the core downtown areas of big cities, but living there has its own downsides. Too expensive, too noisy, can sometimes be somewhat shady.