Individual Post 2: 9th and 9th

Our trip to 9th and 9th was one of my favorite walkabouts. Since I am very new to the area and had never even heard of 9th and 9th, almost everything about it was in some way a surprise to me. What I found most significant was the overwhelming prevalence of local shops in the 9th and 9th shopping area. There were only two chain stores, as far as I could tell: Great Clips and Great Harvest Bread Co (and even Great Harvest is a local chain). The rest, from Coffee Garden to the Tower Theater, were very independent establishments. In this way, 9th and 9th creates a sense of community and locality.

Most of the space we observed was used for shopping. People roamed up and down the street browsing stores. Most people only interacted with the people in their immediate group of friends, except for employee-customer interaction. People's interaction with the space itself was what would be expected in a shopping area. The sidewalks are primarily paths between businesses, the streets are lined with parking spaces, and even the light posts are lined with advertisements for artists and musicians you have probably never heard of.