One street, one mile

I've been wanting to do this entry since the first week of arrival. Finally, I have the data!

Every day I walk from our apartment to school along the Corso, the main "shopping street" in Viterbo. Truthfully, it probably isn't quite a mile and the name changes toward the end (Via Saffi), but it's essentially a straight shot -- one street, one mile -- so allow me some poetic license. As I look at the stores and establishments, I start to see patterns.  Which "types" of shops are the most common? Which types are missing? What does it tell us about Italian culture?

You can see the Corso cutting across Viterbo horizontally

So I set off, notebook and pen in hand (much to the curiosity of several!) and ticked the different categories as I saw them. Now keep in mind, this is only one street (which skews the results), some places were closed so I couldn't note down their category (in Italy when a store is closed, there is often a steel pull-down screen protecting it from peeping Toms like me), and well, I easily could have gotten distracted. Scientific it is not, but interesting (or so I hope) nonetheless.

37 women's clothing stores (predominantly)
36 doorways to offices or residences
11 jewelry/accessory stores (maybe half "bijoux")
10 men's clothing stores
9 lingerie stores (I included a couple of sleepwear stores in this category)
7 cafes
6 shoe stores
5 bag stores
5 home/gift shops
4 beauty (make-up, soap...)
4 children's shops (clothes)
4 public/admin offices
3 banks
2 "tobacco" shops
2 churches (not clear that they even have services)
2 optical shops
2 ice cream shops
and then just one of the following: salon, real estate, restaurant, pharmacy, video game store, pizza a taglio, newsstand, candy store, nail salon, electric cigarette shop, "a little bit of everything" (real growth industry in town), fountain.

A commentary on the economical crisis?
15 store fronts empty/for rent
3 stores closing
1 store opening

A lot of temporary "outlet" (discount) places have popped into the empty spots.
The two cinemas are closed due to a multiplex built outside of town.
Lots of jockeying around -- you see that one shop moved to a different location, so those who are doing well are constantly looking to see who goes out of business in a better location.

Closing

Closed

What surprised me?  I expected to note more optical shops -- I feel like they are all over the city. Rick and I have also seen several independent book shops, much to our surprise. All natural/organic beauty products and herbalists seem to be everywhere as well. Only one pizza shop, one bakery (and it looks like it has closed). I'm guessing the Corso's rent is just too high for these businesses, but they certainly are around town.

Biggest lesson? When going broke, buy some underwear.