Coffee. Just breathe that in for a second: Coffee.When you think of coffee, you think the smell, the taste, and the caffeine kick. You think of "the best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup." Maybe it's not Folgers coffee, but perhaps Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Alterra, some obscure brand of local organic coffee, or even the rare, high brow coffee that has passed through a cat's bowels.
Whatever your brand or brew of choice - where do you go to get it? Whatever is in the pot at work? At the local coffee shop around the corner? A the Starbucks on the way into work? Or dare I say, McDonald’s?
Coffeehouses, coffee shops, whatever you want to call them, have always been the bastions of social needs and the grooming grounds of intellect, (or shall I say – pseudo-intellect). There is nothing better suited to a small metropolis than the coffee shop. It is my belief that the type of coffee shop defines the place – the town, the city, the sector.
In Green Bay, WI, there are several shops that masquerade themselves as coffee shops. These shops are not necessarily defined by their locale in the simplest sense of place, but rather by their inherent nature.
By inherent nature, I’m not referring to the green and gold wearing, or the fur trading in years of yore. By inherent nature, I am referring to the principles by which people get by or respond to a question as “that’s the way things are.” For instance, the people of Green Bay have a sub-par transit system, slowly on route to further demise with budget cuts, and the infrastructure is of the automobile persuasion, i.e. little room for pedestrians and cyclists. If you were to sit at the intersection of Pilgrim Way and Oneida Street – watch as consumers drive to Barnes and Noble, get back in their car, drive to Best Buy, get back in their car, and inevitably drive to Bay Park Square Mall. All of these Businesses conveniently provide ample parking space, less-than horrifying pedestrian paths, and are comfortably located within easy access, on none-other than Pilgrim and Oneida. Why do they do that? “That’s the way things are.”
I digress – Coffee shops. The mainstream coffee shops in Green Bay are Kavarna, Café Espresso, The Attic Books & Coffee, Crystal Coffee, Cup ‘o Joy, Luna, LaJava, Lox, Stock and Bagel, a few unmentionable drive-up windows I care not to remember, Harmony Café, and of course the plethora of Starbucks. An honorable mention and tribute goes out to Joe-to-Go, R.I.P. That taco thing was just too risky Joe, what were you thinking?
Let’s take a moment to look at Green Bay. Green Bay is divided by a natural fixture into two halves by the Fox River, and halved again by the man-made boundary of Mason Street. Before anyone begins to huff-and-puff about my absolutely depraved summary of Green Bay’s lay-of-the-land, I know there is more to this community and I should note I have lived in all of the corners of this city. I’ve walked the streets, bused the systems, and served the constituents in various forms. However, we’re talking coffee shops here, not politics.
The North-West of Green Bay is a mixture of borderline impoverished folk and middle class families (blue-collar families of the industrial or service sectors); the South-West houses generally a great abundance of white, middle-class people (very white collar). The South-East consists of a mixture of elderly, upper-middle class (teachers, white collar workers) and a small nebulous of wealth closer to the river (doctors, retired wealth).
The North-East side houses many of what Green Bay might consider as their “urban poor.” This includes minorities, homeless, the mentally disturbed, college students, of course the revitalizers (those people looking to invigorate the sleeping downtown). It is here we will find The Attic Books and Coffee.
Located in the last stretch of Green Bay's “downtown” on the corner of Jackson and Bodart Street, The Attic Books & Coffee huddles, in the sights of Whitney Park, the Greyhound Station, is a brief walk to the Metro Station. It was at The Attic, for over 4 years, I served the masses their lattes and mochas, I recommended Whitman over Byron, I consoled broken hearts and then wiped up an overflowing toilet with a mop and bleach.
Every coffee shop has its variety of clientele, but I can tell you – not like The Attic. A morning would consist of the morning commuters, bridge-clubbers, the house-wives, the downtown mid-morning “on-breakers,” a mentally disabled person, and maybe one of the homeless - begging for "bus-fare." Around 11 am through 1 pm, a rash of lunch breaks. Around 4 pm, the post-work caffeine fixers, the stress relievers, the book clubs, the craft clubs, and another mentally disabled person - usually the woman who paints sail-boats and sleeps in the park on her own volition or the "he-she,"Marlene, who is quite belligerent about her coffee with Irish Creme. After 6:00, when the sun goes down, there's the daters, the later group of high-schoolers (scholars or I'm going to pretend I'm interested in coffee & books, but deep down I don't have the taste for either), and the predictable, "eclectic" bunch with the diversity of an inbred, island tribe - the artists, the musicians and the writers. And of course, last minute stragglers, including intoxicated people kicked out of the bars down the street. 10 pm. Closing time.
Never a dull moment.
The diversity of the Attic clientele both makes and breaks the situation. Not only does it rely on both savory and unsavory characters, it has been assigned the calling card of "danger - downtown crazies." However, it is not dangerous. The Attic has a host of regulars that are quick to defend their turf (and their baristas I might add), should the situation arise. The Attic is Home to quite a few, who otherwise lead normal lives, no matter their profession. One can easily go to The Attic with the intention of having a quick, relaxing latte while enjoying a book and get stuck in The Attic loop, i.e. you're about to leave and an acquaintance comes in and repeat this cycle several times.
This loop is a characteristic of downtown - once you are a downtowner, it is difficult to leave downtown, even if all the amenities are lacking. It is the only spot in the city of Green Bay where people are on their feet - walking, it is the only spot in town where there is a diverse group of people, in diverse professions and diverse interests. You will not find this anywhere else in Green Bay.
It is for this reason, coffee shops are the canary in the mine, and the nature of the coffee shop tells the story of the locale.
