Walkabout 2--Some Fairly Awesome Pictures of the Avenues

A freakin sweet house, one of many

Yet another house, this time with a brass dome on the top.

One of John Cahoon's parrots, yes we did indeed feed it that peanut

The view of the scary tower of doom and ultimate destruction

Bryn was the first to check out the scary tower of doom and ultimate destruction

A stained glass window with a scripture in some crazy language on the bottom.

And here we have yet another house...

A street! Where our adventure began.

Walkabout #2 (Districts-Avenues)

Bryn, Marie, Maddy, Tim, and Alessandro went on their walkabout to the Avenues, where they uncovered the quaint mysteries of one district in Salt Lake City.
The overall layout of the Avenues is a stark contrast to the layout of the rest of Salt Lake City. The blocks are smaller, about a fourth of the size and the landscaping is very different. In most of SLC (especially downtown) the plant "growthage" is kept very under control; the foliage in the Avenues almost had a jungle-like feel to it. As we walked down the sidewalk overhanging branches of trees reached out to grab our hair, and bushes growing to the side tried their best to trip us. Another structural difference in the Avenues is the street names. Instead of your average names like Oak or Washington the north-south streets are letters going from A to U. The streets running in the east-west direction are numbered 1-11 progressively. This layout made it very easy to navigate. The Avenues felt like a segregated community all to itself where the people could live and thrive.
The houses are one of the most definitive characteristics of the Avenues. The Avenues was the first neighborhood of Salt Lake City, and the houses represent this beautifully. The progression of history can be seen in the architecture of the houses; the designs ran the gamut from Victorian-style to modern-looking homes. Those built in a modern style, though, obviously stuck out. The eclecticism of the Avenues is not limited to the houses. The Avenues does attract a wide variety of people, although there is a general characteristic that can be applied to Avenues-dwellers. Many residents of the Aves are young-to-middle-age, relatively well-to-do people, including many families. The Avenues are also considered a hotspot for liberalism in the city. Amid these stereotypical Avenues-dwellers is a healthy population of college students. A good amount of apartment buildings, duplexes, and houses for rent, plus the prime location in proximity to both downtown and the University, make the Aves an attraction for college students. Many doctors live in the Aves as well, partially because of the Avenues' relatively high expense of living, but mostly because of LDS Hospital's location in the heart of the Aves.
You can almost think of The Avenues as a small town in and of itself--sort of like Sugarhouse to the south. In a neighborhood where you've got your own hospital, grocery store, elementary school, and plenty of cafes and restaurants, you've got a place you never want to leave. Of particular interest are Jack Mormon Coffee and The Indian Market and Grill. We encountered Jack Mormon pretty early during the walkabout, and Tim insisted that we go inside. He loves iced coffee for some reason that he can't explain, even to himself. We indulged him. Inside we met the proprieter, who explained the history of the cafe to us: Jack Mormon's been owned by the same family ever since it opened. While making Tim's coffee he told us how his brewing methods differ from other cafes in Salt Lake. Whatever those methods were--an expensive imported machine was mentioned--they work. Tim wouldn't shut up about how great his coffee was. We wandered into the Indian grill near the end of our travels. Maybe we should've avoided it altogether, though. The food smelled and looked great, but none of us had any money to spare. Luckily, the owner was nice, and didn't mind us ogling his samosas. He sent us smiling on our way with to-go menus. We finished the walkabout by visiting a church. The church was built right up to the curb; the trees and shurbs hid it from plain view. We entered the bottom floor and they told us that they were offices. We were surprised. They redirected us upstairs where the owner has his office. He was on the phone when we came in, and he welcomed us to look around. The altar was taken down and the wall was faded. The pane window had Romans 4:25 written and depicted. The technical details were interesting, but the most interesting part about his office was the fact that he had two parrots. He let us feed them and told us of about his wife and the history of the church. He uses the large space of the church to hold a long track with a motorized cart; he is a programmer specialized in positioning software. Three of us also went up to the tower; two stayed down because the ladder was very unstable. Up in the tower, so much of the Avenues was visible. The tower was completely open to the outside air, with no form of guardrails to keep from falling. The ground looked so far away, and there was a feeling of pure adrenaline, a feeling of anxiety and delight, while sitting along the edge of the tower. The tree branches were alongside us, and we were above the windows of surrounding houses. The wind was so much stronger up high. Although exhilirating, after taking a few pictures, we climbed back down. The tower was one of the highlights of the class so far, the freedom to explore something unique to the city and the avenues in particular.

Paper or Plastic or Mug? - Tim

I've discovered my new favorite thing about Salt Lake.
Earlier today I went into SLC Roasting Company and ordered an iced coffee. While I stood in line I prepared to ask the barista to serve my coffee in a real glass. No paper or plastic, please. This is how we do it in the rest of Utah--at least those of us mildly interested in conservation of some sort. We gather the mental courage to ask for a mug or glass or a bowl or whatever--always risking an exasperated stare--because most cafes in Utah, especially Starbuck's, assume you'd rather sip from a paper cup.
Not so in many of the cafes around Salt Lake: I was about to make my request when the barista cut me off. "Are you leaving or staying?" Slightly surprised, I replied that I'd be staying, whereupon the barista crouched below the bar and resurfaced with a tall, heavy glass mug. "We only have one size," she said. That's perfectly fine with me. I'd rather walk out seizing with caffeine from any cafe than have to throw away another stupid paper cup, complete with seemingly-wise, simplistic quote about life's foibles.

The Quest for the Red Belt (Gateway Mall-Marie)

Sometimes I curse the X chromosome I inherited from my father that made me female. Last Thursday was definitely one of those days. Why? I needed a red belt! Why did I need a red belt? To match the new red shoes I had bought the week before that, of course. (If I were a guy, this wouldn’t have been so much of a problem. Most guys I know aren’t in the habit of wearing red heels.) So, figuring that two hours between classes was plenty of time to Trax down to the Gateway mall, run into Forever 21, and buy the first red belt I saw, I set off on my quest.

The Trax ride there was pretty average. As usual, I brought a book in order to avoid having weird random people talk to me. Once I got off Trax at Arena, I crossed the street and went into Urban Outfitters. This place always has a nice air about it, even though the clothes are too expensive for my cheapness. I casually looked at their belts to see if they had a red belt, but no, they didn’t. And that seemed to be the theme for the next hour and a half. Every clothing store I went in had either brown, black, or even blue belts but the red seemed to have become an endangered species.

However, as I went from store to store I seemed to notice a few common things. First off, in every store I went to someone greeted me. Which was nice, but it kind of made me feel a little guilty since my average time spent there was a minute and a half. Secondly, they always mentioned any sort of sales they were having. For obvious reasons. Third, you could really tell the genre of people that the type of store attracted. For instance, I felt wildly out of place in hot topic wearing semi-nice collared shirt and dress pants. And Aeropostale was full of clones wearing the generic Aeropostale t-shirt. Fifth, everyone seemed to be in groups of either two or three. It was rare to see a group of more that five people. And the sixth thing all the stores had in common was that none of them had a red belt for sale. Go figure.

So after walking up and down the mall and through stores I usually wouldn’t be caught dead in (cough, Aeropostale, cough cough), I also got more of a feel for how the mall was laid out. I hadn’t realized before how big it was, but believe me, after traveling on what seemed miles of sidewalk in shoes that massacre my feet on a daily basis, I better understood the scale of the Gateway mall.

I’d say that the mall is a fairly important destination for many people. I know that’s where I usually go if I want to buy clothes or see a movie. It’s very conveniently located since there are, not just one, but two Trax stations right next to it. I guess I’ve never seen it super busy before. But that could just be because I have tendency to go there at odd hours of the day.

All in all, I’d say that the mall is a very cool place even if it has an extreme shortage of red belts.

Riding Trax- Maddy Oritt

After our first walkabout and our subsequent presentation day, I find myself being more observant when I walk around the city. This could also be partly because, as a student at the U, the vast majority of my time is spent on campus, as opposed to when I was in high school and had a car and more reason to be out and about in the city. Because I'm on campus so much, being off campus and in downtown SLC feels more foreign than it did just a couple of months ago. I feel in some ways that I'm seeing old things with new eyes.

Today, I Traxed to and from Gateway with a couple friends to see a movie. Trax is one of the few places/things that encompasses and welcomes all manner of people from all over the city and beyond. There are so many characters, so it is impossible to get bored. The people we saw on our two rides today included a studious young Asian man, two grungy men dressed too young for their (perceived) age, a middle-aged Asian woman helping a severely disabled older Caucasian man, a handful of Dew tour spectators, an American Indian-looking man with a long, dark ponytail and a lovely complexion, and an older gentleman sitting on a seat next to me. He asked me whether we were students at the University, to which I responded yes, and then asked if we were from Utah, to which I answered yes again. He then commented that we were really special to be able to attend school here. He seemed incredulous that we could attend school in our home state, which was a bit perplexing... Even though some of the people on the trains can be somewhat off-putting or even scary at times, I can also appreciate the small slice of diversity we can observe on public transportation. And it makes me smile to remind myself that if I think our public transportation system attracts interesting and diverse people, it is nothing compared to the people I might find on public transportation in a much larger urban area, such as New York or Chicago!

City Attractions(Bryn)

The weekend before the first walkabout, my boyfriend and I went on a whirlwind tour of the city. I chose places in the city that I had heard were unique and easily accessible from the Trax. Our first stop was the library. We didn't enter the library at the time, because we were trying to get to the Farmer's Market before it closed for the day. I didn't know the exact location of the Farmer's Market, so I figured it was in that general area, possibly in Washington Square. Of course, upon arrival, we realized the Farmer's Market was nowhere in sight, so we explored Washington Square for a half-hour before asking a pedestrian where the Market was located.

Washington Square was interesting to us because of the uniqueness of the City & County building, built of stone and profound in structure. The peaks and arches, and the intricate carving on the stone added to the structure's beauty. The contrast between the modern library and this old-world building provided the surrounding blocks with the best of both architectural worlds.

Although Washington Square was peaceful, with its fountains, flowers, and open grassy areas, the Farmer's Market was exciting and upbeat. I wished we would have been able to spend more time there, but we were only able to briefly browse and eat before the Market closed for the day. The first thing I noticed, when waiting in line to purchase food, are the many ethnicities in this one central location. There was much more divesity present at the Farmer's Market than is typical when walking down the streets of Salt Lake City. Not only were many cultures gathered at the Market, but people of different backgrounds and social classes. Many homeless people lay scattered around the trees for a shady place to sleep while children played on the jungle gym immediately beside them. Singles, couples, and families alike came to enjoy all the Market had to offer. Along with the lively, safe, and upbeat atmosphere, there was a feeling of community. The Market is most definitely a place people return to time and time again. Not only was the food incredible, but the booths of clothing, jewelry, art, and other whimisical pieces were items not found anywhere else. The Farmer's Market stressing the advantages of buying local products and helps to keep the city's economy healthy.

After the Farmer's Market we spent some time at the Gateway Mall window-shopping and eating yummy ice-cream! I loved the mall and the outdoor location. It's a nice place for families, teens, and adults to relax and shop.

Quaid chose the next stop: The Planetarium! We explored all the great hands-on activities and took lots of pictures with the astronaut picture on the wall! Finally, we decided on a show to see in the dome theater. After the show, we were able to explore the planetarium's store where they sold many interesting objects having to do with science and astronomy.

There were various other places we vistited including the intersection at 9th and 9th, Temple Square, and the Urban Room and Library, which was the assigned location of my group's first walkabout. I have begun to get more familiar with Salt Lake City and aspects of the city that make it unique. As I continue to go on walkabouts with my City as Text group, I'm confident I will have more experiences in the city that will prove significant to my overall understanding of it.

Urban Room - Alessandro Gondolo

The library has always been an important part of my family; we have a strong passion in reading. The Urban Room was no new sight to me yet now I have the senses of an analytic observer. Normally, the Urban Room was simply a pathway to the library, a path connecting the world of bookcases and the outside world. We would pass through it with no care for the shops or the artwork. With the new intent of analyzing the room, I noticed many things I had never seen before, even though they have always been there.

When I first entered the Urban Room on the walkabout, I noticed the sheer size of the glass and metalwork; the room was surrounded by modernity. The floor was made of exotic colored bricks and the sky was suspended by glass. The room is long but, relatively, narrow in width; facing parallel, the room seemed enormous. The gradual curvature of the walls gives the impression that there is more space beyond the end of your vision. The ceiling also fell while curving, and the sixth floor ceased to exist at the middle and the fifth was flush with the ceiling at the end of the room. The short ledges had chairs and couches spaced evenly between the pillars. The room was an enclosed, public space that felt private and protected.

One side had the main attraction, the library. A typical large city library. The opposite side had stores. Not so typical. Each section had an a glass door popping out of the wall and in modern typefont, had various words lasered into the glass. The main store was the library store: used books and writing materials. When we entered, we were confronted by a sales representative. After asking us who what we were looking for, she began talking about the library and the urban room. She was a volunteer who had been with the library for 25 years. She was there when they planned and built the library. Lucky for us, she was eager to tell us about the great room and told us many details and curious anecdotes. Most disappointing was how the stores were not doing as well as they had predicted and could be closing down soon. Hopefully it is simply the normal consequences of a recession than the unfavorableness of the location. The whole store was as organized as the room itself. Order was (humanly) perfect.

Walkabout #1-The Urban Room (dun dun dun)

The Urban Room…a place I never knew existed even though I’ve been to the Salt Lake Library quite a few times. Well, I guess I knew it existed, but sort of in the same way you know a side table exists. Its there, but you don’t consciously acknowledge it, except maybe to occasionally place a magazine on its wooden surface. So when I showed up a full half hour after everyone else due to a breakdown in communication, it was to explore a place I’d really never fully been to.

I was tired. The day had been an especially long one. Even though it was only the early afternoon on a not so busy day, I felt that lying down in front of the trax train and letting it run me over sounded especially nice. At least that way my to-do list would come to an abrupt, albeit gory end. But walking in from the outside heat into the Urban Room was a welcome relief. A walkabout sounded excellent compared to the Calculus homework that still lurked in my dorm room. I thanked the guy who held the door open for me, at least random strangers still do that type of thing. It was nice and I kind of wanted to use my customary “You’re a gentleman and a scholar” thank you, but I wasn’t sure how that would be taken. I didn’t want to get mugged on my first walkabout so I restrained myself.

The first thing I noticed about the UR was the feeling of an immense space. It was almost like relaxing in an outdoor public pool on a floaty bed with your eyes closed. Calm, to a point. Private, sort of. But mostly it just seemed peaceful in comparison to the hustle and bustle of public transportation. I mean, sure there was movement, but it was movement of a different kind. Movement in public transportation seems to have more of a feeling of urgent purpose, hundreds of people who just want to get from point A to point B in as little time as possible. Movement in the UR also seemed to have purpose (mostly from the front door to the library entrance) but it had more of a mall-like atmosphere to it. Sure, people still wanted to get from A to B, but meandering off course seemed like less of a deadly sin.

There were a few stores in the UR, but due to my tardiness the only one I explored was the library bookstore. But it was awesome! Maybe it just appealed to the notebook/pen/writing/random object loving freak I am inside, but I would totally go back just to look around. The inside assulted me with hundreds of different colors and really eccentric objects. They had an Edgar Allen Poe action figure, which I would have bought, except that I’m now a poor starving college student. The store itself seemed to contrast the large emptiness of the main portion of the UR, but it also mirrored just enough of its characteristics to keep continuity.

We also had the opportunity to talk to the shopkeeper lady. She gave off the vibe of being very eager to talk about the library, almost to the point where I started wondering if she didn’t have posters and scale replicas of it on her mantelpiece. (It seems that volunteers there are fairly overzealous, better than apathetic I suppose) I learned that the library was originally built off a design from a different library in a different state and that the shops didn’t get as much business as they had hoped for. That wasn’t surprising to me though. I’d been to the library quite a few times without even thinking about going in the shops. I couldn’t help but wonder why that was. Maybe making everything blend in to the over all schematic of the UR wasn’t such a good idea after all?

Because everything there did match, almost to the point of OCD-dom. The signs were the same and they went with the glass elevator and the stairs and the brick floors (imported from Israel or something) and the taupe color scheme…pretty much the whole nine yards of matchingness. Which did give it a feng shui type of vibe, but overall spending a lot of time there was almost unappealing to me for that very reason. I felt that it was the type of place where if I were to spill something I would be frowned upon by the Gods-of-All-Things-Book-Related. It almost seemed that because I wasn’t taupe, silver, and clear, I didn’t belong. Maybe that’s why I never explored the shops; I was intimidated by them.

To me, the name Urban Room conveys something much like a city, unmatching mostly, and chaotic, which is not how I’d describe the UR at all. It is pretty though, in all its color coordinated glory, I’ll give it that. And its different, I’ll give it that too. I just can’t help but wish it was more diverse on the inside I guess. Maybe I’m just intimidated by large, taupe spaces. And maybe it just wasn’t that great of day and I’m dissing on something really cool that I shouldn’t be. Who knows? I sure don’t.

First Impression-->Marie

If I could condense my first impression of Salt Lake in one phrase it’d be “terrified out of my freaking mind”. So many people. So much traffic. So many buildings. So much pollution. So much….everything. Trying to wrap my mind around living here was like trying to wrap a salami around a Hummer, and I’m not talking about those wimpy slightly smaller Hummers. (The H3 I think they’re called?) We’re talking full sized army vehicle here. Definitely not salami-wrapable.

In order to understand this, you’d have to realize what my background is. All my life I’ve lived in Monroe, UT: Population 1200. Every stereotype of a little town (aka Hickville) that has come into existence fits Monroe exactly, from the overly friendly people (my arm gets tired from all the waving I have to do while driving around) to the acres of farmland to the crazy guy on the corner who’s the only person I’ve ever met who can plow a field in a perfectly straight line while completely drunk. We had a standing joke that if you had to wait more than 30 seconds at a stop sign (there were no stop lights) it was rush minute in Monroe.

Contrast this to Salt Lake and you’ll see where I’m coming from.

I’ve gotten much more used to living here now that I’ve been here for four months. Now when homeless people accost me on the streets I don’t panic so much. I just keep walking. Freeway driving used to cause me to hyperventilate, but over time I’ve done away with the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and wide-eyed look of someone whos life is flashing before their eyes as they silently yell fervent prayers to God to please, please, please keep their Geo from smashing into one of the other fifty billion cars on the road. I’m getting used to, and maybe possibly liking, the fact that I rarely see anyone I know and that nobody here has memorized my life story and the life story of all my ancestors to three generations back.

But sometimes I wonder if this is a good thing. The main difference I’ve noticed between here and Monroe is the anonymity. Is it good for me to be able to causally live in the urban background, drifting to and fro through daily life, neither knowing nor caring about those around me? I guess only time will tell.

The Urban Room - Tim Slover

Early September. Between 1:45 and 2:00 in the afternoon--very hot. Unusual (see "Early September"). At the so-called Urban Room w/ Alessandro, Bryn, Madie, and Marie. None of us know each other yet, and this is the first time we've all gotten together. The first walkabout. We took the train down from campus to get there--to the Urban Room (hereafter the UR). I think that sets the scene well: just as public transportation represents a convergence of many socio-economic (there has to be a less pretentious way to say that. "Socio-economic".) backgrounds, so does the UR. Inside the space itself I felt peculiarly alien. That must have something to do with the fact that we were there to study, to probe the place.
There are students hidden behind laptops (I didn't find out if there was free internet), families with small children, older men and women talking over coffee, and scruffy teenagers with very billowy shirts who look oddly out of place. Most of these are on their way to the library (you literally have to pass through the UR to get to the books, which is convenient for the businesses in the UR [see below]) but some of them, a sturdy minority, stick around the UR. It's pretty hard not to. You don't--at least I don't--expect to find something like the UR surrounding the city library. The space is massive, a long, very wide hall, unifying five open levels along the outside edge filled with leather chairs and coffee tables, gently curving around the library's exterior. The place is filled with almost entirely natural light. Along the outer edge there are small businesses, all local. A cafe, a garden shop, a small art gallery, a comic book store, etc.
It occurs to me that the UR is not exactly the kind of place most people would plan on visiting--at least it wouldn't be their sole destination. It's more like a place you just end up at, pleasantly surprised to spend fifteen or twenty minutes out of the sun, or to peruse the shops, before moving on to the library, or wherever. In that way the UR is both a node and path. A node because it is a kooky place, one that the intrepid traveler could spend a bit of time in, and a path because the traveler could just as easily walk right through without much thought. The whole place--the UR--is a great little component of the city at large, something that adds to its identity, that helps to set Salt Lake apart from other cities.

Walkabout #1 (Bryn)

Upon entering the Urban Lounge for the second time as an observer with an intellectual agenda rather than a tourist, I felt I was seeing an entirely different room. Watching the way people interact with one another, noticing aspects about the Urban Room that make it appealing to the public, and understanding the Urban Room has taken on a role as both a path and a node in the city of Salt Lake were just a few of the points on which my City as Text group touched in discussion.

People didn't interact with strangers or even acknowledge their presence, a characteristic typical of most metropolitan areas. Individuals were completely engrossed in their own tasks, or possibly conversing with a friend that had accompanied them to the lounge. In general, however, the Urban Room itself--excluding the surrounding library--served as a place for temporary relief from the outside elements, with its air-conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. Because the Urban Room is a sort of path, a diverse group of people from outside the library walls are introduced, creating a somewhat high-traffic area. Many people passed through the Urban Room without a glance at the surrounding architectural beauty of it or the unique structure in which it is enclosed, leading me to believe this path is one traveled in their daily routines. Almost all passed the locally owned and operated stores in the Urban Room, a diverse compilation of shopping for visitors to enjoy. I felt these stores were a great factor in enhancing my experience in the Urban Room.

For the store owners and employees of these small shops, the Urban Room is an environment in which their entire, or partial, livelihoods exist. According to the volunteer at the "Library Store", the shops in the Urban Room don't get as much business as was originally expected; however, although incredibly interesting,I don't believe the stores would still be in business were it not for the traffic in the Urban Room and its location next to the library. Had these stores, however unique and wonderful, been located on a downtown block, they would be lost in the chaos of the city.

I was very pleased to discover some of the many interesting objects for sale in two stores in particular, the "English Garden" and the "Library Store", a non-profit shop whose proceeds go back to the library. My group took the opportunity to speak with a Library Store volunteer about the history of the library, the history of the Urban Room, and her feelings about both.

The library was constructed in 2004, and the idea of the Urban Room stemmed from a similar room found in the Vancouver, WA library. Initially after the library was built, and the Urban Room along with it, there was a "problem" with homeless inhabitants of the city sleeping in the Urban Room, because of the comfortable atmosphere and furniture. Eventually, to solve the problem, the furniture was removed directly in front of the Urban Room cafes and shops, leaving only a few not-so-comfortable tables and chairs. Although the library is open to the public, the general rule exists that there is no sleeping allowed inside the building, including the Urban Lounge. The library's purpose is for intellectual enhancement, empowerment, and enjoyment, the Urban Room, for small communal activity and unique shopping.

Not only were the shops pleasing, but the most profound aspect about the Urban Room, the thing that made me most want to return, is the beautifully crafted architecture. The surrounding library, the glass windows and natural light, the immense walls and ceilings, and the modern appeal are extremely aesthetically pleasing. The natural light makes for both an ideal study environment and a place of temporary relaxation. The stone floors create a continuation of outdoor to indoor space, an easy flow from one to the other. They appear almost as cobblestone streets, yet much more refined and elegant. The imageability of the Urban Room is apparent upon entering the rotating glass doors.

The overall experience of my group's travel to the Urban Room was a positive one, an activity in which we were allowed to appreciate the meaning of it. Spending time viewing parts of the city as legible, distinctive features certainly enhances the way in which I perceive the city as a whole.

First Impression - Alessandro Gondolo

The first time I saw Salt Lake City was in August, immediately before the seventh grade. The city appeared to me as any other city I had lived in; moving from one place to another I have lived in at least 6 different cities. SLC, however, is where I lived for my junior high and high school years, the times when we develop the majority of our self-image and when we begin to understand the environment. I saw the city as my home. When I first learnt of Sugarhouse and 9th & 9th, my friends and I ended up spending a lot of time in those areas. There is an attraction to them that is unexplainable to me, at the moment. Anything of this level of mystique interests my intellect and I hope this class will teach me the terminology and method of analysis to understand the city.

Alessandro Gondolo

Walkabout 1- Public Spaces- Maddy Oritt

Our first walkabout assignment was the Urban Room at the Library. I’ve spent a lot of time at the downtown library, but we learned a lot from experiencing it through the walkabout. We arrived at about 1:45 p.m. this afternoon after riding Trax from the stadium. It was a warm day with a clear sky. The weather greatly affects the Urban Room at the library because it is surrounded on three sides by glass. Natural light floods the area, making it almost like an extension of the outdoors. It was especially beautiful in the Urban Room today because of the abundance of light and clear air.

As we sat down at a table in the Urban Room and began observing, our group began talking about how, although it is a public place, it is not very conducive to public leisure or lounging. The Urban Room seems to be more a path or a node. Most people who walked through the Urban Room were simply walking through it; few people stopped to sit or look through the stores. Also, the seating in the Urban Room is minimal and not the most comfortable. We later talked to an employee of the Library Store, who noted that there are few tables and chairs because, when they were more abundant, homeless people would be the predominant users of the tables and chairs. The store proprietors felt hurt their business, so many were removed, leaving only a few in front of the cafe and coffee shop.

The woman at the Library Store, who has been a Friend of the Library for a long time and has witnessed the great changes and dynamics of the library, said the shops lining the Urban Room are not doing as well as they had originally expected. She also said there is high turnover in the shops which locate there, because of the difficulty of doing good business. This ties back to the Urban Room being more of a passing-through point than a destination or a stay-for-a-while location.

I have never been to the library solely to spend time in the Urban Room, so it was a good experience to slow down and take in the dynamic of the Room itself and how it is similar to and differs from the rest of the library.

Photos Continued

Walkabout 1- 09/09/09- Urban Room at the downtown library