Reply #34: You're absolutely right-hence the death of the "downtowns" of most [View All]

[kittykitty]

American cities. Flight to the suburbs followed. Now we have urban sprawl, malls and 'big box' stores.

I feel sorry for people who have never experienced the excitement of going to a major downtown. It was exciting because it was not a trip often taken, and was rather a big deal. In those days, one dressed for the occasion. But it involved shopping in a big department store, lunch in the tea room (elegant), perhaps getting new shoes and looking at your feet in the X-ray machine to see how they fit, really rigerous shopping for household needs, clothing, etc, then getting on a streetcar, really tired. Carrying packages was no problem because the department stores delivered your purchases for free the next day or so.