[PDX City-State]

Mark,

Public markets draw tourists, but they mainly serve restaurants and local residents. Or at least they should. The idea of a public market is build a bridge between producers and consumers by eliminating the middle man--let farmers sell directly to the public at a place that has operating costs low enough for rents to cover everthing. It needs to be close to restaurants and where people live--other than Red Robin, I can't think of many restaurants near MC--can you?

I live downtown and don't own a car--I am also probably one of the biggest foodies you'll ever meet. I would never go to MC to buy food simply because it would be a pain in the ass. After I'm done buying food there, what the hell am I to do? Are there restaurants? No. Shops? no? Now if they were to either level the thing or perhaps redevelop it in order to incorporate some private investment--then it might be a go. But you can't just plop an amentity in the middle of something and hope people come. Community first, amenities later. Not the PDC model, which tends to be the other way around.

And please don't compare me to Urban.