[Shawn]

"Boring Buildings, Great Places" - welcome to every Japanese city. Tokyo and Osaka and etc. etc. etc. are proof that you can indeed have amazing urban environments with average-at-best vernacular. Set-up and usage are ultimately more important than form.

I used to live 5 minutes south of Yanaka Ginza (highlighted in the OP's article) and shopped there daily at a greengrocer, butcher, drug store, and/or one of a few mini-supermarkets. Plus bento places for lunch on the weekends. Japan does mixed retail so well.