On Farmers' Markets And Public Space

"What exactly has happened to create the farmers' market boom? In some ways it's all inextricably linked to the urban real estate boom. The young professionals who bought into the revitalized inner city are often the same people who bought into Alice Waters' "buy local and organic" revolution. Even as they embraced urban living, they still wanted a connection to the earth."

"But I would guess there's something else at work: a growing hunger to occupy public spaces that are egalitarian and unfettered by enclosure, a place that provides an antidote to the private worlds we usually occupy -- the condominium, the corporate workplace, highly controlled retail environments."