Potsdam, New York, A College Town - Part 2

I'd left the dogs behind back at the farm and was taking a driving tour of Potsdam, New York. Just outside the "downtown," I parked beside this old brick building which housed a law firm. I decided I'd walk from there because the main street, called Market Street, had an awful lot of traffic:

Market Street was exceedingly busy, so much so that I had trouble crossing, though I confess that my picture taking and eyeballing the sights was a big part of the problem. There were plenty of cars and plenty of trucks carrying merchandise in all directions. So much activity for a small town in a bad economy! Actually, I'm told that the national economic trends usually bypass this area and its economy has been steady:

And with two large universities in town, one would expect to find at least one large bookstore:

There are many areas outside of town with broad roads and big box stores galore, but those look pretty much the same all over the country. I am happy to report that Potsdam's downtown seems to be thriving in spite of the big box stores:

I was parked near the Little Italy Pizzeria (but that is not my car in the picture, though it even fooled me for a moment) and it was time for me to continue my driving tour. This, however, is where I had trouble crossing the road because of the large amount of traffic and my inattention to the lights. Just as I was about to ignore the "Don't Walk" sign a police car went by, effectively putting an end to that idea:

And from there it was on to the infamous toilet house. I featured it in a blog post a couple of years ago and the toilets and urinals are still all there:

In addition to the toilets, behind each of which the owner planted three large sunflowers this year, were scarecrows and signs and what appeared to be space alien references. Each toilet was filled with plastic flowers. A great deal of work goes into this yard each year. I imagine it's really tough to mow that lawn:

The garage was painted with pinkish orange paint and adorned with two urinals. A large face made with what appeared to plastic plates smiled out at all passersby:

The side street adjacent to the toilet house was pleasant, middle class, clean and well kept. I imagine the home owners there have no problem giving directions. They just tell visitors to turn when they get to the toilet house!:

And another home made from what must be Potsdam Red Sandstone:

One last house and I decided to continue my journey. But I'll post about that tomorrow: