Quantifying the Supply of Retail Business in a Neighborhood

If the current demand for a particular good is greater than the
current supply of that good, then there's a business opportunity to
supply that good. In one of my classes, we're learning how to
quantify these discrepancies between supply and demand. One of my
roles in a group project I'm working on this week is to quantify the
retail supply of apparel and home furnishings in a particular
neighborhood in West Philadelphia. So this morning, I hit the road as
soon as the sun was up to walk the streets of my assigned region,
counting relevant stores and measuring store sizes. My region is
supposed to be a one-mile radius from a particular address, so as you
should know from geometry class, the area is pi r squared, or about 3
miles. Almost as soon as I started walking, I thought to myself,
"This is going to take forever; I should've driven or at least rode my
bike."

But I continued to walk. As I zigzagged through the streets, I
noticed a lot more than the apparel and home furnishings categories.
I marveled at how many nail and hair salons there were. I made note
of the many non-business institutions: churches, health-related
entities, educational facilities. I studied the architecture of the
homes. I was impressed by how many different kinds of ethnic shops I
came across. I sensed subtle changes in the mood of different places,
like every block had its own unique flavor.

By the time I was done, I was glad I walked instead of biking or
driving. Because when you walk blocks, you really get a sense of the
vibe of a place. The only thing that would've been better would've
been to have walked the blocks during a time people were out. But
walking them early on a Saturday morning was enriching, too, if
anything to strip away the people and the hustle and bustle, and be
able to take in the streetscape in a different way.