At one time in my neighborhood in Chicago most blocks had at least one storefront building, in some cases it was a corner building to catch the travel from 2 directions but sometimes it was in the middle of a block and today they are mostly gone. My block had 4, on the left side as I looked out across the street was a small grocery store and the family lived on the second floor. Across the street almost directly in front of us was a neighborhood tavern with a pool room attached. Then on the right side corner across the street was another neighborhood tavern with 2 flats above it and one was occupied by the owner of the building.
On my side of the street on the right side was my favorite store, a small candy store and the owner lived in a small apartment in back of the store with her daughter and son-in-law living in a 2nd floor apartment. Here is where I spent my $.75 I earned by helping a neighbor keep an eye on her children while she was writing a book. Almost all of it was penny candy. WOW.
Today that is valuable real estate and the small stores did not survive. Here are a few examples of how the stores have been disguised to create another apartment in the buildings that survived the wrecking ball.



