[Source: asuwebdevil.com] -- If you look banal up in the dictionary, the first image to come to mind probably wouldn't be Paris' most famous street for shopping.The Champs-Elysees is the street famous for bearing the passage of Charles de Gaulle's celebratory march, freeing France from Nazi occupation. The street also plays host to many of the city's parades and celebrations.On the Champs-Elysees, you can shop at a five - story Louis Vuitton boutique and other high-end retailers. You can visit automobile showrooms where companies vie to be the one with the flashiest prototypes to wow visitors. The street receives almost half a million visitors daily, and is second only to the Eiffel Tower as a popular destination for visitors. Nevertheless, Parisians were worried enough by a surge in the number of big box retailers moving in to support a government effort to prevent the "banalization" of the street, hoping to revive the street's famous movie theatres, music clubs, and other upscale, unique locations that skyrocketing rent has forced elsewhere.
Ironically, the very word banal is derived from a word for a compulsory government edict. In any event, the campaign against banalization is one that should gain international support. We could even start right here, in Tempe. When we walk down Mill Avenue, we'd like to start seeing a little less Ruby Tuesday and a little more Cafe Boa. Nothing against Z Gallerie, but given the fact that the ASU campus is practically bursting with artistic talent, it'd be nice to see an actual outlet in Tempe, perhaps in the form of a gallery - or at least something more than a couple walls of art in a coffee shop.
[Note: To read the full article, click here.] Photo by Jeff L. Knapp.
