Great public spaces make great holiday places

Posted December 20, 2010 at 1:34PM

Tags:: christmas, cities, communities, holidays, markets, publicspaces, smartercities, smartgrowth, sustainablecommunities

Stockholm (photo by Brian Colson)

It is impossible to have a great community without great public spaces - appealing and accommodating streets, sidewalks, parks, storefronts, plazas, accessible cafes, and so on. These are the essence of what many designers call "the public realm," to contrast with the realm of privately owned and secured homes, yards, and private office buildings. People love communities from Paris to Santa Monica precisely because their public spaces are so enticing.

In many parts of the world, more emphasis is placed on the quality of the public realm than here in the US, with the result that their private enclaves needn't be so lavish to provide their needs and nourishment. A moderately sized apartment or townhome might suffice just fine, for example, if you have a world-class park and library at your door; the kitchen and dining room can be modestly sized if the cafes within an easy walk are plentiful, reasonably priced, relaxing and nourishing.

In the US, we have been doing much the opposite in recent decades. Once, we used public funds to build great parks, libraries, boulevards and transportation systems - public assets every one. But support for public spending dried up; isolated pods of poorly connected new subdivisions put very little within walking distance; and Americans started pouring our resources - sometimes more than we had, as the housing market collapse illustrates - into our outsized private realm of gates, fenced-in yards, and sealed houses, with outdoor life largely relegated to the rear, the least public of our outdoor spaces.

Top: Washington, DC (Adam Fagen)

Bottom left: Los Angeles (Loren Javier). Right: Stuttgart (BuzzWolf)

We do need some places of our own - at least I do - but we love great public spaces where they exist. They are where "community" happens. I was reminded over the last couple of weeks by several strolls through DC's highly animated downtown holiday market how much the winter holidays bring out in us a shared spirit, frequently experienced on sidewalks and plazas, whether they be iconic such as the brightly lit trees in Rockefeller Center and at the White House, or modest such as a small religious display on the lawn of a small town's place of worship. The best ones really come alive at this time of year, and this post is devoted to them.