system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
I'll just add - I'm in one of those few walkable areas - but, I have ONE grocer, ONE dentist (pediatric only), and the other items listed in the OP subject within walking distance.

The car lets you choose - Do like another dentist better?  Want to bank at a different bank?  Do you prefer a specific brand of something that the walkable grocery doesn't carry?  You don't need to settle for what's near, when you can spend 15 minutes driving and get dozens of options.  That expansion of options is what really may shape consumer behavior, no matter how much they say they want walkable options - if 95% of the customers who choose a specific business are too far to walk, then walkability  (and a corresponding reduction in how convenient it is to drive to the business) reduces options for everyone.
gpt
&gt;	The car lets you choose - Do like another dentist better?  Want to bank at a different bank?  Do you prefer a specific brand of something that the walkable grocery doesn’t carry?  You don’t need to settle for what’s near, when you can spend 15 minutes driving and get dozens of options.  That expansion of options is what really may shape consumer behavior, no matter how much they say they want walkable options - if 95% of the customers who choose a specific business are too far to walk, then walkability  (and a corresponding reduction in how convenient it is to drive to the business) reduces options for everyone.

This is only true for cities that rely on car-centric city planning. Genuinely walkable cities involved dense-mixed-use-zoning (almost entirely unheard of in most of the united states) and don't sacrafice options in order to be walkable.

Take Cork, Ireland for example. Not even a particularly large city, I just reference it since I've visited recently. There are 16 dentists within a 10 minute walk of the city center. There are 17 grocery stores, 6 eye doctors, 20 lawyers offices, etc.

You don't have to own a car to have options, you just have to live in a city that isn't weighed down by car-centric design and under investment in public transportation.