Slow Drives and Side Streets: Urban Geography and Commercial Market Analysis

It's amazing what one can glean from a slow drive through a neighborhood. The urban geography of an area like East Austin says so much about the market by way of its housing stock, architectural trends, successful local businesses and failed ones, too. But what (or rather, who?) is a, "market"? And how does walking past Cisco's on East 6th tell you anything about it?