I think that the distance shown should be derived from walking or driving distance and not a straight line from point to point.

This would help me out a lot. I live on the bank of a canyon. There are guys about 700 meters from me on the other side. But it's a 35 minute drive to get to them. And they fill my grid so that I don't see many other guys that are really only a 10 or 15 minute walk from me.