One place we all wanted to visit during our vacation was Pike Place Market. Each of us had our own reason to visit. I was very excited and inspired to see the food vendors. I really want to make an indoor market in Valley Junction, especially because someone gave me a tip like “My girlfriend and I own an empty lot in VJ. Save the barn by putting it on our land. We want to host a year-round market.” Wouldn’t that be cool for Des Moines?
The part that struck me about Seattle’s Pike Place Market as simple was the amount of downtown residents and pedestrian retail opportunities. It’s just part of living there — over one hundred years of open air markets. Because we visited on a sunny day, despite the 40 degree December temps, folks were eating outside at lunch. Everyone expects to walk and be outdoors. The market is the grocery mega-store. Moving from farmer to consumer seems simple there. (Theoretically simple. I’ve read enough about this location to know that it’s not simple in practice.)
Downtown Des Moines just seems hard to me. Hard to shop.
This is post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.