![]() ![]() One recent study published by a research partnership including George Washington University and The Center For Real Estate and Urban Analysis shows highly walkable cities in the U.S. If that is too esoteric to swallow, try this: high quality urban design that encourages walking instead of driving produces significantly more economic output and promotes greater social equity and cohesion. The design of the built environment reflects the values held by the culture that created it, and it has the ability to give substance and dignity to an otherwise routine activity. Although there is something to be said about convenience, economic efficiency, and frequent consumer turnaround, people generally don’t want the pursuit of such things to dominate the architecture in their communities.īeautiful architecture is more than just something pretty to look at. To maximize the effectiveness of gasoline as the lure, the layout of a gas station is oriented around cars, and like most auto-centric design, the result is generally uninviting to people. The gasoline is a type of product economists call a loss leader – it may not make any money, but it reels you in and gets you to open your wallet for the higher margin items. National Association of Convenience Stores, March 2019). The fuel is what brings you in, but up to 70% of profits actually come from the chips, sugary drinks, beauty products, and all the other stuff that they sell you ( Consumer Behavior at the Pump. Gas station design is shaped largely by their business model, which involves selling you just about anything other than fuel for your car. Put simply: they are ugly and bad for the environment. The aversion to the “c-stores with pumps” is fairly intuitive to understand. Why do we have so many? And why do we dislike them so much? ![]() Certainly, gas stations perform an essential function as fuel for cars, but the sheer number of them suggests they do a whole lot more than that. From other sources, we know Memphis has more gas stations per capita than almost all other cities our size, yet nobody really seems to want them. Yet pumps can be seen on seemingly every corner. Ask twelve people their thoughts about gas stations, and you will likely get thirteen opinions – none of them flattering. If anybody recognizes this place, or knows a Paxton who might have put his (or her) name on it, please let me know.Leave it to Memphis to be a city where gas stations are a frequent topic for cocktail party conversations. "Paxton" isn't a very common name, but the few Paxtons who lived in Memphis over the years never seemed to own, operate, or have anything at all to do with a gas station, Esso or otherwise. Heck, I even checked the 1960s, just in case that car in the picture was somebody's old jalopy.īut nothing turns up. So my only recourse was to search through old city directories from the 1940s and 1950s, which seems to be the approximate time period depicted in the photo/postcard. The Lauderdale Time Machine has been out of commission for seconds - though it seems like days or weeks it's hard to say, exactly, with a time machine. I jumped to those conclusions because I can see an Esso sign in the photo, and above the entrance is the name "Paxton's" so what else am I to make of that?īut the problem is: My beloved reader purchased this postcard on eBay, and it was identified as a "Memphis gas station." And so she turned to Vance - that would be me, you understand - to tell her precisely where this establishment was located.Īnd I have been unable to do so. One of my readers - oh, God bless all 20 of you! - recently sent me this postcard showing what appears to be an Esso station operated by a fellow named Paxton. And it's all because of this simple, black-and-white postcard of a gas station. Is it possible that sometimes the Internet is wrong? That the World Wide Web has allowed an error? That somebody on eBay has made a mistake in their listing?Īs much as it chills my old bones to consider these horrible things, I'm beginning to think there must be a crack in the space-time continuum. ![]()
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