Sure! The discussion was about enjoying small independent coffee shops, and how to run one profitably, so my description of "better" is w.r.t. that issue - for persons who want to run such a coffee shop, or who want to visit one. The identified issue is that per-purchase margins are fairly small, and to sustain a business it requires a lot of these small purchases. As property (mortgage/rental) costs are also high, having a small space is also important. So to get a lot of customers despite being a small space, you want to be either near a natural attraction (park, beach, etc), or near a lot of people (office building, metro station). Density helps with the latter.
> I happen to live in a low-density part of the world. It has its downsides, but on the plus side, from my home I can walk to open countryside in pretty much any direction in a few minutes.
And how many independent coffee shops can you walk to in a couple minutes?