Purpose Statement: This blog post discusses observations of the downtown Newberg area that my professor and classmates can consider in the context of our class.
Observations:
Newberg is a beautiful city, and it has a lot of wonderful places. The downtown area is one of my personal favorites, just to walk around and be in. As soon as you start walking down the street, you feel the area’s charm. The storefronts are well-kept, and many places have welcoming lights. The buildings are close together, so in the span of a thirty-second walk you pass a bakery, an antique store, a bank, and a coffee shop. No matter what you’re looking for, or even if you aren’t looking for anything in particular, you’re sure to find something you didn’t know you needed.
However, on the other hand, some of the buildings are old and worn down. The sides of brick may look ready to fall apart in a few more years, or paint may seem cracked and scratched. Most of these buildings are as old as Newberg, such as the City Hall, so a little bit of wear-and-tear seems inevitable. It’s really jarring, though, when you walk by a cute coffee shop and see a tall, off-peach building next to it that looks like it hasn’t been repainted in fifty years. Most of those are purely aesthetic problems, so the general vibe of the downtown area is still overall good.
I think that there are a few really good businesses in the downtown area that deserve more recognition. One of my personal favorites is the Gonzalez Taqueria y Panaderia, which sells tasty homemade Mexican food and pastries at really low prices. Off to the side a bit is also a business called Uflora, which sells house plants of many different shapes and sizes. I don’t personally have a plant, but I didn’t know until now that the shop existed– which is unfortunate, because it had a really charming feel and I’m sure anyone who wanted a succulent or an aloe vera plant would find whatever they needed there. I think a few businesses such as those can easily get lost in the cluster of welcoming storefronts, and so they could likely use a little bit of help promoting themselves.
Writing Wizard 
That is true, the stores are all close enough that you can check them all out in a short amount of time without seeming super cramped. I agree some buildings look a bit dated, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Some look worse than others, however, and maybe those ones could use some touch ups.
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