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In

> お店や学校や駅が **近くに** あります

would there be a subtle difference in meaning if 近く was used here instead of
近くに? E.g.

> お店や学校や駅が **近く** あります
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2023-06-30T20:51:56.810
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2023-06-30T21:38:39.737
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nuances particle-に
Difference between 近くに and 近く in a sentence
As per @aguijonazo's comment, only the first sentence is correct. I think your
confusion comes from that 近く is **both an adverb and a noun**.

The adverb 近く is the adverb form of the adjective 近い, meaning "close to/near".

近く, however, is also a noun meaning "places nearby", or "the surrounding
areas". A synonym in Japanese would be 付近. When you say 近くにある, that means
something is nearby, or "in the proximity areas". You can also say 近くのXX or
付近のXX meaning the XX nearby.

Using the adverb 近く to modify ある is unnatural in Japanese, so you'd want to
use the noun 近く, which needs a に when paired with ある to denote location.

The same goes for the antonym of 近い: 遠い. 遠く is also both an adverb of 遠く, and
a noun meaning "places far way". 遠くへ行きたい would mean "I wanna go to far
places", and 遠くのXX means "the XX far away".
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2023-06-30T23:04:47.470
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近くに and 近く as adverb mean different things. The former is _near_ and the
latter _soon (temporally near)_.

So お店や学校や駅が近くにあります is the only possibility as in

  * 彼は近くに住んでいます He lives near here. (here is implicit)

This 近く is a noun meaning _neighborhood._

* * *

近くあります is possible, meaning _to happen in the near future_.

  * 日米首脳会談が近くあります. JP-US summit meeting will take place soon.

I guess **近く** 日米首脳会談があります is better; other verbs are possible 近く日米首脳会談が行われます.
This 近く is an adverb, but a bit formal and not (often) used in usual
conversations.

* * *

For comparison

  * ケーキ屋が近くにオープンします
  * ケーキ屋が近くオープンします

The former is an ordinary sentence meaning _a pastry shop will open nearby_.
The latter is a bit stiff way of saying _a pastry shop will open in the near
future_.

Technically ケーキ屋が近く近くにオープンします is possible, but of course, this is never used.
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