Strip Malls and Safety Belts

I've been slack on the Downtown of the Week series, so consider this the anti-installment. Something I've been thinking about since I've been back to the east coast is the lack of nice downtowns. In Hickory we went to a cool pub downtown and Liz lives in downtown Winston-Salem, but other than that it seems like, for the most part, the shopping, food-buying, and activities focus on driving to the local strip mall. Maybe it's a flawed observation, I've only been back here for ten days. Or maybe not. Thoughts?

In the end the big takeaway is that it reminds me just how much I want to live in a town with an awesome downtown where I can go shopping, dining, walking, and wandering. Somewhere where everything is bicycle accessible. I want to live in a town where people walk around and greet their fellow citizens face-to-face, not with a wave from behind the wheel. Perhaps some view this as quaint, but sign me up nonetheless.