In Friends, Joey, Chandler, and the gang were often found hanging out at Central Perk, the fictional coffee shop that essentially served as a neighborhood living room. But a regular haunt in which to wish for a million dollars isn’t just the stuff of TV sitcoms. Part of the charm of living in or visiting Paris, New York City, or other old, dense metro areas is the prospect of having a favorite coffee shop or bakery within walking distance.
Yet the neighborhood corner store is harder to find in newer, automobile-dependent developments and subdivisions. Many municipalities make it illegal to open new bakeries or cafés in residential areas, ensuring the strict Euclidean separation of home and work — named for the Supreme Court ruling on zoning involving the village of Euclid, Ohio — that has characterized too much of U.S. life for over a century.
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