I'm not sure why. The drive for me in Michigan to get to the nearest grocery store, was not meaningfully different than it was from, say a random suburb in the UK to get to the nearest Tesco.

Again, in a lot of the ACTUAL world, a 15 minute drive isn't possible. That's a ... 5-10 mile walk?

Think beyond suburbia, which is really quite small in the scheme of things.

The crucial point is that such a grocery trip basically requires a car. Meanwhile the rest of the world is used to having businesses within walkable reach.