Buttonwood is not close to any of the shopping centers when compared Virginia Trace, Caroline, etc., but when I last timed it, it was 16 minutes by cart to the LSL Sweetbay and maybe 5 minutes by car. Didn't time it for Colony plaza, but probably about the same. Certainly not to far for me. Love driving the cart and getting to see the sites. And look at it this way, you won't get all the traffic in front of your home from people going shopping!