The Houston Chronicle’s Monica Rohr joined us this morning at the inaugural East End Street Market, a community project spearheaded by the East End Foundation. Her take below.
Article originally appeared on Chron.com.
In a neighborhood where tradition and progress are tangled in an uneasy coexistence, where a historic Latino enclave of modest, shotgun-style houses now shares space with angular townhomes filled with hipsters and affluent urbanites, where the old and the new often collide, this was a chance to come together.
The inaugural East End farmers market was a community gathering and a Sunday afternoon stroll, a place for families to amble after morning Mass and for couples to cool off after a weekend bike ride, a mix of retirees who have lived in the neighborhood for generations and millenials with tattoos and gauges in their ears.
Stretched out along a two-block length of the Navigation Boulevard esplanade, vendors camped out under white canopies and offered up everything from artisanal cheese and organic doggie treats to jewelry bearing the image of Frida Kahlo and homemade Mexican mole-flavored ice cream.
The threatening weather kept many of the scheduled vendors away, with chalk marking the empty space where they had been scheduled to set up shop. But the rain remained at bay, as the sun periodically peeked through the thick canvas of clouds.
And the esplanade soon filled with shoppers and browsers perusing the bounty of goods on display.
