I'm actually like a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop kind of guy. So I love the local shops that are kind of like one-off chains in Los Angeles, and I usually get a soy flat white.
Suburban sprawl leads to social atomisation and fragmentation and is environmentally disastrous, as carbon-intensive car journeys displace local shops and replace public transport.
I have worked for Tesco and am grateful to them but in principle I believe in individual shops.
Behind every small business, there's a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores - these didn't come out of nowhere.
I started 'American Born Chinese' as a mini-comic. I would write and draw a chapter, photocopy a hundred or so copies at the corner photocopy store, and then try to sell them on consignment through local comics shops. If I could sell maybe half a dozen, I'd be doing okay.
I grew up, really, in the days before air conditioning. So I can remember what it was like to be really hot, for instance, and I can remember what it was like when your barber shop and your local stores weren't air conditioned, so it was hot when you went in them and they propped the doors open.
I guess the closest I came was doing chores around the house to earn pocket money. My brother and I would have to do the washing up, cleaning around the house, walking my grandparents' dog, lots of things. We didn't get a huge amount but it was always enough to be able to walk down to the local shops and get some sweets.
Salem is such a cool little town that's very touristy. It's fun to walk around all the shops and get the feeling there.
Normally I'm really lucky because I can go down to my local shops and no one cares. I take the Tube and the bus so it's kind of the perfect balance.
The neighborhood stores are an important part of a city child's life.
Not exclusively, but the bulk of our local economy should be covered by local currencies, which is more efficient than having global currencies which lose connection with reality in the markets, shops and communities of the people.
We have a wonderful district with lots of fun little stores and companies and farms.
