As the doors are opened, customers are immediately assaulted with a barrage of noise. The brick exterior of the market does a grand job of keeping the noise of the hustle and bustle of the Auburn Curb Market inside its own boundaries. Among the noise is the soft roar of the crowd, sneakers squeaking against the cement floor, and the saw of the butchers cutting meat.

A walk around will expose food enthusiasts to a large variety, from butchers that boast “whole hogs” sold and farmers selling fresh produce to more modern stores such as coffee shops and multiple burger restaurants. The smell of these places is a strong mix of all of these, which makes for a very pungent odor, likely due to the fact that the entirety of the market is indoors, leaving no exit for air, which, in turn, causes the air and smells of all of the restaurants and shops to culminate into one.

The people that occupy the market themselves are interesting. I was surprised to note the diversity of the customers, from people that appeared to be lower income to people that were clearly upper middle class. The great diversity of customers was very close in comparison to the diversity of shops, which as diverse in product as they were in price.

It is of importance to note that I went to the market on a weekend, which is likely the time at which this particular market is busy. It is very likely that if one were to go to the market at a different time or date, the crowd would likely be thinner, creating a different experience to the one I had myself.