I'm sitting at the Starbucks in the Del Monte Center watching a steady stream of latte drinkers basking in the glow of all the goodies in the display counter. This particular Starbucks is among the busiest I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of Starbucks locations around the Southwest (see the sidebar at left). Whenever I have visited this location it's always been busy.

It's easy to get a glimpse of the people of Monterey County at the Del Monte Center, particularly here at the Starbucks. In line I see military personnel (probably from the post-graduate naval academy), young children hanging on young moms out for a day of shopping, elderly women with books in hand (mystery novels seem to be popular with them), Asians, Mexicans, mostly Caucasions, and very few Blacks. Three young men in blue jeans are busy typing away at laptop computers at various tables around the room (me, too, but I'm no longer young). Tourists are in town today. You can spot them right away by the new cameras hanging around their necks. By my calculation, today's most popular customer at Starbucks is a young woman, perhaps between 20 and 40 years old. At the risk of sounding sexists, my guess is most men are at work. Thus the only men I see are elderly, working on Suduko or Crossword puzzles, and a few young ones working online.

Outisde the window I see the many tables and chairs available for patio-dwellers. This area of the Del Monte Center has restaurants and fast food places, though you will not see a McDonald's or Burger King. Chipolte's and Chinese Express are directly across from the Starbucks, and a Subway Sandwich and pizza joint are nearby. Most of the lunching crowd sits outside. Monterey has one of the best year-round climates in the country.

The locals refer to this place as a mall, and I suppose it is. It's really an outdoor mall, since entrances to the retail stores and eateries are all outside. Since many indoor malls around the country are closing due to the economic crisis, maybe outdoor malls will survive. I would think an outdoor mall saves a fortune in utility costs, air conditioning and heating provided by Nature.