News from Earth and Fire -- May 2, 2007
Save Snider Plaza!
Last weekend, I traveled to Dallas to attend a wedding. I stayed with a friend of mine who works until about midnight, so Saturday morning when I got up, I struck out by myself for a walk and discovered a wonderful little shopping area called Snider Plaza. I felt like I had stepped back in time, and that time was actually slowing down. I wanted to just sit somewhere and drink it all in. It occurred to me there was a newsletter in this experience.
Snider Plaza is a couple of blocks of Mom and Pop shops. There is a broad street with parking all around (I understand it's very difficult to find a parking place around the noon hour), and a traffic circle in the middle with a fountain. I'm familiar with that type of place. There's one fairly near to where I live -- Reston Town Center. I decided the newsletter was going to be a comparison between Snider Plaza and Reston Town Center. When I got home, I'd take some pictures of Reston Town Center and then compare and contrast the two places in the newsletter (can you tell I was an English Major?).
This newsletter was going to be a piece of cake to write.
There'd be a few images of Snider Plaza to start things off.
The Fountain at Snider Plaza
Gotta have the fountain shot.. and then just a general shot of some of the shops...
Some of the shops at Snider Plaza
... and of course, this inviting little spot tucked away in what at first appeared to be just an alleyway:
Wouldn't you just love to have lunch here?
I had breakfast at a perfectly marvelous restaurant/german deli called Kuby's.
Kuby's
The breakfast crowd at Kuby's
...where there is a collection of beer steins on the wall behind the counter:
... and you can buy German newspapers and magazines along with your bratwurst on the way out:
Yeah.. this is great. As I ate my King Ludwig (pretty much eggs benedict), I figured I'd run up to Reston Town Center when I got home and take the corresponding photos there, and it would all just fall into place nicely.
On my way back to my friend's house, I took this picture of one of the shop windows:
Save Snider Plaza!
It's a real place with heart and soul.
I guess the developers want to get their hands on Snider Plaza and "update it". Turn it into a clone of Reston Town Center.
Strip it of its heart and soul.
I knew I wouldn't have a corresponding picture for this one at Reston Town Center, but I took the picture anyway. I figured I'd be able to make the point about places like Snider Plaza (:::cough, cough::: and downtown Leesburg) becoming harder and harder to find. Maybe I could toss in something about it being really hard to own a Mom and Pop business and trying to compete against homogeneous and ubiquitous shopping malls.
OK, so I got back home and I headed up to Reston Town Center for the shots I'd need there. First the fountain against a backdrop of some of the shops.
The Fountain at Reston Town Center
... then one of the shops....
The shops at Reston Town Center
... and the shaded seating area by the fountain where I sometimes sit and people-watch to match up with the neat little place in the alleyway:
The Plaza at Reston Town Center
Yep.. yep.. right on track. Last thing would be to pop over and take some pictures of Ruby Tuesday as the counterpart to Kuby's.
I especially wanted Ruby Tuesdays because one of the things I say to people in the gallery is "Won't it be sad when all we have to choose from is Wal-Mart, the Dollar Store and Ruby Tuesdays?"
This was just going to be perfect. I'd make the point that eating at Ruby Tuesday is a cookie-cutter experience and I'd talk about how I felt sitting there at Kuby's, looking at the beer steins on the wall, and at the sausages hung over there in the grocery section. I'd talk about how you just can't go out and build a place like Snider Plaza. All outdoor shopping areas with fountains are NOT created equal. Yeah. What's different about Snider Plaza is that it is UNIQUE. It grew organically and naturally. It wasn't "created for your shopping experience."
That heart and soul thing.
As I approached Ruby Tuesday at Reston Town Center I noticed that something was wrong. Something was missing. Uhhhhhh...
Where have you gone Ruby Tuesday?
Ruby Tuesday at Reston Town Center didn't renew their lease? Wow. What does that mean?
You'd think that if it was making money (and why WOULDN'T it be.. it's RUBY TUESDAY) it wouldn't close up shop.
You'd think.
First Friday
Looks like the weatherman is going to cooperate again for First Friday this week. I'm still featuring the work of local potters Shawn Grove and Bryan Mattraw.
Other media
I've been working to add more of the things from other media to the website. I hope you'll check them out, and I hope you will remember Earth and Fire Gallery for Mother's Day and on into the wedding season.
Won't it be sad when all we have to choose from is Wal-Mart, the Dollar Store and..
uh... Panera Bread?
Won't it.
Have a good week.
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