I thought in the Lin&Ko video she said she likes using that feature even when they're in the same town because it displays everything that was posted previously.
It does keep a history but since you're in the same town, I figured paying attention would be good too. Also it takes a few more clicks to get to be able to chat with them and the window closes as soon as it sends.
The town chat seems much easier as it stays there to make longer sentences.
But hey, w/e floats their boat.