I think most old European cities have stores and people living above the store. Houses are way to expensive to not use them, and lots of small stores don’t need 2 stories.
North american cities had these too, many even had public transit street cars (basically a tram) running down the streets. Then the street cars were ripped out in favor of buses and cars then most of the buildings destroyed so people could park their cars, which everyone had now because the transit was demolished.
I think most old European cities have stores and people living above the store. Houses are way to expensive to not use them, and lots of small stores don’t need 2 stories.
North american cities had these too, many even had public transit street cars (basically a tram) running down the streets. Then the street cars were ripped out in favor of buses and cars then most of the buildings destroyed so people could park their cars, which everyone had now because the transit was demolished.