Honestly, if the city didn't have so many rules and laws about what you can and can't do in your own front yard, it wouldn't be that far off base to expect that many neighborhoods could set up trading posts like this pretty easily. One house does little free library, one does toys, one does clothing, another does extra food from gardens, another tools etc...

Exactly this. I think all the regulations are just power and money grabs, tbh. If people can't rely on each other, they rely on paid services or the state. If people have to ask permission for every damn thing (like building a shed on your own property), they feel disempowered to do anything about anything and look to official organizations, companies, the state, whatever to fix everything instead. And if people's rights are taken away regarding their own property, not only in the "you need permits" or "you can't build an accessory dwelling for your poor artist friend to live in or your disabled in-law" sense, but in the you-don't-own-mineral-and-water-rights sense, allowing corporations to just come in and poison your land and air and water table ...well, people feel powerless. I understand it but don't think the more individualist self-sustaining movement is going to change this; no one and no family, even, is an island; I think it needs to be about community again, or we're all fucked.