Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023
Counterpoint:
Cities are places where human beings interact with one another, and human beings will still want to do that. To the extent that “going shopping” is no longer an activity, but rather something people do from their desk at work, or even from their phones while sitting in a bar with friends, that activity will be replaced with other social activities. If online shopping actually saves us time, then this will free up time for things like going out to eat or meeting friends for drinks. The fact that Amazon exists doesn’t mean that people want to spend their weekends sitting at home by themselves.
Perhaps there won’t be enough new cafés, restaurants, bars, and various other things that cannot be substituted online to make up for the loss of durable goods retail space, but this will be offset to some extent. Something has to replace the activity of running errands or spending the day walking around a mall.
And if I had to guess, I would say that small format urban retail does a LOT better in this world that suburban big box stores from the peak of pre-Amazon suburbanisation.
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Good points. Humans are social creatures and the rise of online shopping won't change that. What you're talking about might help explain the rise of urban social activities that weren't a thing in previous decades, like escape rooms, axe throwing, board game cafes, ping pong bars, etc.
As for music, am I the only one well out of my 20s who still listens to new music? There's lots of it out there.