The day of our long tour of the metropolitan area, we all proceeded to start our early morning with Roots smoothies. Roots is an all natural juice bar, blending all and everything healthy. Personally I like to start my mornings with a nice Mc Donalds breakfast but in the spirit of food hubs, I had a giant glass of blended green things. It left me starving, but word on the streets is it's good for you.
Our tour started at the historic 5th Street school then went all over the downtown business area, to multiple plazas, then the transportation hub, the City Hall, passing the jail and then finally ending in, my favorite: the Arts District (soon to be on my next blog). Throughout the tour we noticed street plantings and shade patterns. Large palms shaded the pathways to big businesses- the dress pants and button downs probably are not the most comfortable in the Las Vegas sun. Small places to get lunch had outside eating areas also shaded by trees and umbrellas, within walking distance to other businesses. The street included a bus lane as well as a bike lane. Something I found strange was motorcycles driving onto the pedestrian side walk to park next to the pedal bikes. Getting back on topic to relations of buildings, the City Hall is located down the street from jail, very convenient. I did not find a particular pattern in location of plazas, but I did find it interesting to see their very strategic designs to prevent the homeless from taking over. One of the plazas we visited had Lego looking planter caps and benches preventing anyone to lay comfortably. I understand the idea and intent to keep the homeless out, I just wish they could find a much more attractive way to do so. The entry plaza space in front of City Hall used very minimal seating, but being an entry plaza it is more for a flow of people. It was surrounded by lush beds with tall palms and shade trees, creating shaded areas of large boulders for an informal seat, that we all did not have a problem taking.
