Wow! That looks like a runaway train of thought!
Gonna have to try to dissect...
Grocery store? Sure!
If you're not growing your own veggies, you're gonna have to go buy them!
A book shop?
Where else would you get skill boosting books from?
A cafe in a book shop? Sure! Why not?
Personally I'd like to see multi use lots.
Imagine being able to have a cafe, in a book shop, with a doctor or dentist in an office upstairs.
Or an apartment building, with a laundry and a take away food shop down stairs.
Or a ground-floor restaurant, with a bar and nightclub in the basement.
Buying food, clothes, toys, and books, have been a part of previous editions of the sims. In TS2, your sims couldn't have new outfits unless you sent them shopping for them.
A camping shop sounds like a good idea.
Record shops and tattoo parlours also sound like good ideas. I totally get your desire for a more involved world, and fewer rabbit holes.
TS3 had transport, in the form of subways. They were a rabbit hole of sorts, but they whisked your sim from one part of the world, to the next, with the risk of being mugged along the way. Musician sims could also busk in subway stations, and make money by doing so.
A music festival would be a GREAT addition! That is something the franchise has never done before. It nicely blends the concept of camping, with bands, music, and singing.