Friday, September 20, 2002
This past weekend I was in Portland for the PNBA fall trade show and got to spend Sunday exploring the city (okay, mostly wandering around Powell's.)
But after Powell's, we had pizza in the Nob Hill neighborhood in Northwest Portland. It's supposed to be one of the better areas of Portland. But I wasn't really getting into it. Everyone else was, and I did like the tree-lined streets and loads of pedestrians. It felt like a garden SoHo.
But there was something wrong about it. I realized something about the nature of shops, and why I love bookstores (or yet another reason I love bookstores). Many of the shops I saw were for boutique clothing, expensive home furnishings, or marble tile bathtubs. All of these are either big ticket items or special occassion purchases. You're not going to purchase a new couch every month and most people can't afford $400 dresses. My point is, these aren't places you can frequent and shop at regularly. Here it comes...not like a bookstore. It struck me, and it's a simple point (but I'm fond of it), that bookstores are great because the average person can walk in, spend some time looking around, and walk out with a decent object for under twenty bucks, usually less.
These are the kinds of places that make a neighborhood friendly. It's why coffee shops have been so successful. For three bucks, you can walk in an establishment, be welcomed, and know you're not going to be expected to spend $50. It's not like a furniture store where a small end table is the lowest item at around two hundred dollars.
I'm sure this idea is brought up in Ray Oldenburg's book, The Great Good Place. I seem to recall it.
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But after Powell's, we had pizza in the Nob Hill neighborhood in Northwest Portland. It's supposed to be one of the better areas of Portland. But I wasn't really getting into it. Everyone else was, and I did like the tree-lined streets and loads of pedestrians. It felt like a garden SoHo.
But there was something wrong about it. I realized something about the nature of shops, and why I love bookstores (or yet another reason I love bookstores). Many of the shops I saw were for boutique clothing, expensive home furnishings, or marble tile bathtubs. All of these are either big ticket items or special occassion purchases. You're not going to purchase a new couch every month and most people can't afford $400 dresses. My point is, these aren't places you can frequent and shop at regularly. Here it comes...not like a bookstore. It struck me, and it's a simple point (but I'm fond of it), that bookstores are great because the average person can walk in, spend some time looking around, and walk out with a decent object for under twenty bucks, usually less.
These are the kinds of places that make a neighborhood friendly. It's why coffee shops have been so successful. For three bucks, you can walk in an establishment, be welcomed, and know you're not going to be expected to spend $50. It's not like a furniture store where a small end table is the lowest item at around two hundred dollars.
I'm sure this idea is brought up in Ray Oldenburg's book, The Great Good Place. I seem to recall it.
