Strolling along a city street, picking up art or antiques from streetside vendors and enjoying great architecture along the way - if that sounds more like Paris than Cincinnati, stop by Main Street this weekend.

With little fuss or flurry, the Main Street bazaar - a fresh-air market - will open for foot traffic from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Sunday, then stay open weekends deep into the fall.

A weekend of browsing

More than a dozen merchants offering crafts, antiques, art and collectibles will sell their wares along Main between 12th and 14th streets. The idea is to offer a pleasant, civilized weekend experience in the city and meanwhile to bolster Cincinnati's business district.

The timing is terrific - the advent of lovely fall weather, the international charm of street markets and a string of larger events to lure people downtown.

The bazaar will round out weekend fun for people headed to Riverfest on Sept. 5 and the Downtown Tour of Living on Sept. 12.

And wait till next month

It should be in full swing by the "Fusion Weekend" of Sept. 18-19, when Cincinnati rocks on every front with the Bengals' home opener, a Reds game, Oktoberfest, and the Ohio Classic & Jamboree.

While the market is starting with arts' wares, it will add entertainment and ethnic foods within the next few weeks.

A city is nowhere better experienced than on its streets, so the addition of music, food, unique shopping and the friendly feel of leisurely strollers will remind urbane dwellers and suburbanites alike why there's so much to like about this city.

Why didn't somebody think of this idea earlier?

On that note, if the bazaar brings to mind Findlay Market, don't think you have to choose between the two. This is collaboration, not rivalry. In fact, the bazaar will gradually grow uptown to Liberty Street and merge, with Findlay, into the Weekend Markets of Over-the-Rhine.

Simply a good idea

A city is, in the end, a collection of experiences. We think the Main Street bazaar is a smart little moment in the life of this community. That the Over-the-Rhine Foundation came up with this gem, and city leaders quickly helped make it happen, is evidence of the simple, serendipitous good ideas that can still happen here.

So meet us on Main Street.