They come to work, to shop, see a show, see and be seen. People-watching is part of the downtown experience. A twentysomething male wearing a baseball cap with silver wings on it carefully places one foot in front of the other, following a sidewalk line. A woman dressed in brilliant yellow and coral, wearing an outrageously high yellow hat walks past, eating an ice cream cone. People notice, but nobody stares.
Downtown can also be a sobering experience.
Street musicians can charm, or irritate. Infrequent visitors are sometimes disconcerted by large crowds, or oversized parking garages that swallow up cars and leave them wandering. But experiences aren't all that downtown offers. From dry cleaners to dentists, boxer shorts to Barbie dolls, there are services and shops of most any kind. Structural engineer Jeff Albert works downtown, lives nearby and says he puts only about 500 miles per month on his car.