> Most apartment buildings can't even support an on-premises convenience store. SF tried.

Then they aren't building high enough.

My Vancouver apartment, in a 30 story building was floored by retail. So were some of the other neighboring buildings.

Thanks to mixed-use building, Vancouver has a vibrant downtown - one used by people after 6pm. Seattle, where I currently live... Has large stretches of it that are largely dead in the evening - because it's all office/professional space. Vancouver downtown feels far safer after hours.