Motorcycle Thing?

     Along College, along about 49th Street, there's a corner of shops.  This is unremarkable in and of itself; College Avenue was a main route of the city and suburb streetcar/interurban route, and has retained much of its streetcar-neighborhood flavor, with small business building on the corners, every third or fourth intersection from at least 16th Street all the way up to 62nd/Broard Ripple Avenue.

     Sunday afternoon, I saw this:

Weird angle: I made the phone a camera on a red stoplight, then shot without looking when the light changed.

     49th and College has been making progress but struggling a bit. The Northwest corner was last occupied by an excellent barbecue joint; when it moved out, nothing but graffiti and broken windows moved in and stayed for nearly ten years.  Across the street, a large liquor store, plumber and dry cleaner's did okay.  The remaining corners held a veterinarian and another cleaner on one side and a former KFC, occupied by a series of short-lived eateries, on the other.

     The plumbing company, on its third generation, went out of business (Steck's, and I still miss them -- the same family own and still runs Winthrop Supply, selling plumbing parts with an eye to the needs of the neighborhood, nearly all pre-1950 homes).  A Little Caesar's has moved into the defunct KFC and shows signs of staying.  Agrarian, an urban-farm supply shop (are chickens the new widescreen TV?  Yes, they kind of are) and brewpub tasting room  for Upland Brewing Co. filled up the vet's building, and the vacant, paint-tagged building was finally pushed over, to become a gravelled lot.  The vet, in need of larger quarters, moved out.

     Between the liquor store and former plumber, a line of small shops held a varied array of enterprises; the brilliant, quirky restaurant Recess showed up in 2010 and has been a real asset.  The plumber's became The Sinking Ship,* a large pub with, 'tis said, an excellent menu.  Between the two, various shops came and went, clothing stores and the like, including Lava Lips, which sold a huge variety of hot sauces but found there wasn't enough walk-in business to keep the doors open; word is they hope to come back as an online store.

     The last time I had a good look at the former Lava Lips and the adjoining storefront, there was a sign saying something about "motorcycling accessories" and "coming soon."  Looks like they may be open!
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* Where liquor law and good intentions create paradox!

The law ain't always an ass, but you can see one showing from there.