Another reason I love cities

Cities are my country, I think. I love walking in them as much as other people love walking in nature. Then again, I love walking in nature too, but walking in cities makes me feel even more settled and at home.

Walking down the street, I found a little storefront business that sold corned beef. That's it! Just corned beef! A whole business-- mind you a small one-- that just sold one particular specialty food. And obviously has been there for 30 or 40 years, and also obviously still doing well (delivery van parked in front looked brand new).

Now, I'm mostly vegetarian and I don't like corned beef anyway. But this kind of specialty business is the sign of a thriving, diversified economy, IMHO, and you only find this kind of thing nowadays in cities.

I suppose after gas gets to US$10/gallon, and the Wally World empire with its truck-driven JIT inventory techniques comes to a screeching halt, then maybe small towns will once again evolve the kind of economic ecosystem as well-- lots of small shops and independent business owners, selling things grown and made locally, that kind of thing.