Despite the economic recession, downtown Ithaca continues to expand. The corridor between Green Street and Cayuga Street is fast becoming a trendy consumer complex, with a new Gimme! Coffee, pharmacy and TCAT bus stop sprouting up alongside the recently opened Urban Outfitters.

The point of the development, according to city officials, is to make the area a destination spot in the same vein of the Commons.

“I think we’re creating a fun city,” said Alderperson Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th ward). “Green Street now is a major improvement on Green Street four years ago. We want to make [the area] a destination and extension of the Commons.”

Full Disclosure: Yes, I went to the new Urban Outfitters just outside the Commons. And yeah, I did some shopping there. OK. A lot of shopping there.

If you’re thinking I caved, well, you can go suck it. I entered, in part, because I wanted to capitalize on at least a few menially styling summer duds so I wouldn’t look absolutely tragic during my fall classes; but also, I hit up the ’Ban (as it is sure to be called ... trust me ... it will catch on) to capitalize on the fact that I would have only two short months to wear something that could be considered, in theory, somewhat, and to a very, very limited extent, unique.

Many students were excited last week when the City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board approved plans for an Urban Outfitters store set to hit downtown Ithaca this summer. The store is part of a larger plan meant to bring more people to downtown Ithaca. Hopefully, however, the trip to a new chain store will not mark students’ first visits downtown. As residents of Ithaca, Cornellians have the responsibility to be active in the community around them, rather than merely shop in it.