60097 City Square: Large Buildings

I recently ordered 60097 City Square figuring it would be a nice addition to my City Layout, adding a wide variety of minifigs, vehicles, a couple decent buildings and some nice smaller structures.  At $189.99, it felt a bit pricey, but once I got it in the mail and opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised by just how much was in it  (the box art does not do it justice).  The set includes 16 numbered bags plus a bag of base-plates and another of windows for the tram.  The set includes two large buildings, a Lego store and an care dealership with service shop; two smaller buildings, a coffee stand and a tram station, three cars, a Lego truck, a tow truck, a news helicopter, an articulated tram, 14 mini-figures and a host of other minor accessories.  All of which would fit well in any City/Train themed layout.  This is a large set, so I am going to break this review up into a few parts, the first which will cover the Care Dealership and the Lego Store.  This set shares some tie ins/similarities to the 60026 Town Square and 8408 Public Transport Station.

First, a bit more information on the two larger buildings.  First off, there is the car dealership with attached service station which includes a working car lift, nice signage, and a two story show room.

The dealership also includes sliding pocket doors on the bottom floor of the show room, two tire displays, room for a car to be display on the second floor, a small tool rack in the service station along with a desk.  I love the blue curved sections around the second floor show room and the roof line of the service station.  My only complaints about this section are that the thee window/door frames on the show room area (two on top and one on the bottom opposite the service station) do not have any glass in them, which leaves the side views unfinished.  This seems to be a compromise to allow the tire displays to fit, but does not seem worth it.  The set comes with a black car, a red car a service attendant, a female driver and a tow truck with driver (all which will be reviewed in a later section).

Next we have a nice little Lego Store, smaller than the Car Dealership, but still manages to squeeze in a lot of fun internal details for a nice overall package.  This is a two story tall building with only one floor. The building is a nice fusion of an older traditional row store with a modern update using glass windows and Lego Store signage.  The traditional feel is given using the back side of masonry blocks along with nice detailing on the roof line and a building date (1932).   The store also includes a roof top vent/HVAC, some vent detailing on the building sides and a standard city light post with a bus stop sign.  

 Inside we see all sorts of fun details.  There is a large red 2x4 brick on display in the window, a demolition set box display in the other window, a service desk with computer and a slow to hold a brick built Lego bag and a mini-figure displaying (using a micro figure).  On the two walls we have a pick-a-brick display behind the service counter and on the other side are some glass shelves with various set boxes with printed faces.  There is also a ledge behind the second floor windows that holds classic Space and Castle minifigs, a really nice touch that makes this building shine!  The building also includes a child minifig and a Lego Store employee minifg.  There is also a Lego shipping truck with driver that will be reviewed in a later section.  All around I love this building and my only possible complaint is that the otherwise standard street light, lacks the grey vent piece on the 1x2 base that some of the other City sets have.