Have you ever noticed that the kids seem to go to a lot of places by themselves by either walking or riding their bikes? There must have been a lot of things close to this residential neighborhood! :)

Marcia rode her bike to the dentist's office. (I wonder if she also paid the dentist herself. :) )

Peter walked to the library.

Jan went the the drug store by herself to get something to remove freckles.

The boys went somewhere (maybe the same drug store) to buy glue.

Marcia got her job at the ice cream shop while on a bike ride.

Bobby bought a Kitty Karryall while by himself.

Jan bought a wig while she was by herself.

Marcia and Greg took Peter to Driskoll's Toy Store before they were old enough to drive.

The kids all went to the photographer (2nd time) and the TV studio (silver platters) without their parents. I'm not sure if Greg was old enough to drive then or not.

I'm sure I've forgotten some.

I think that in the early 70's, cities were a lot different. It seems like "neighborhoods" tended to be a couple of streets together rather than whole subdivisions like we have now, and there were a lot of "mom and pop" shops too that were close to neighborhoods. I remember the neighborhood my grandma lived in had all kinds of things like that within walking or bike riding distance (there was a dime store I loved!), and anything else I needed was a short 10 cent bus ride away. I used to ride a little bus called the "Orbit" for a dime and it was specifically for shuffling people to nearby places that were just a bit too far to walk or ride a bike. And it was not out of the ordinary at all for busses to be packed with kids riding without adults accompanying them, particularly on Saturdays, and when the movies let out. Ah, those were the days. :)

In those days, each town might have all of your examples in its main street: a dentist, an ice cream parlor, a drug store, a toy store, a photography studio, and yes - I have even seen wig stores. Being in the "downtown" area, it would be close to most residents of the town. But this was wrought with inefficiencies. It is more efficient, and thus cheaper, to have one huge store, where everyone can go to, from many towns, that contains all of these products and services.

What town did the Brady's live in any ways? I know it was in California but was it in Las Angeles? I know the 2 spoof movies they did in the 90's was in LA.

The TV movie "The Brady Bunch in the White House" it is stated that they lived in Santa Monica, California. I'll just go with that, since Santa Monica is a suburb of LA.