The city I know the best has a wonderful outdoor market that has been around since the early twentieth century. Local farmers sell produce and flowers there year round. There are many little stores and restaurants in the market too, all underneath some large canopied roofs. When I worked downtown I used to buy my groceries at the market and this helped me feel like I was living in some small European town. I could get great prices on wonderfully fresh and locally grown items. There is a great small dairy shop in the market as well and I would buy my eggs and cream there.
I used to go often to one of the market book shops. It had a political flair and specialized in selling books by people with unusual ideas. If you were holding a protest or trying to get the word out about your cause, this book shop was one of the top places to post your information. I liked supporting them because they were independent so if I knew I was going to purchase a book I would have them order it for me. That way I could give them the profits instead of some larger more capitalist book seller. I got to know the owners. They were nice, earnest young men who liked riding bikes in all of the organized bike events around the city.
They were fun to talk to when I went into their little market book shop. Over time I started socializing with one of them and he started coming to political events that my friends were hosting. My friends hosted an event called ‘Car Free Fremont’ three years in a row where that area of the city didn’t have any cars allowed in it that day. There were all kinds of scheduled events about walking and biking. My friend from the book shop came to this event and enjoyed himself immensely. He ended up making friends with the people who hosted the event and so I got to see him more often. And of course I still bought my books from him and his business partner.
