Squares are the Hearts of Communities, Markets Their Soul: How Three Cities Put Them Together and Thrive
Exploring the powerful, mutually beneficial connection between market and square in three U.S. cities.
There is nothing like the thrill that one gets when they go to a great place again and again. Great places are addictive dwell in your memory, often emerging to cheer you up and give you incentive to go back or just explore in your mind the pleasures you had or what you might have missed. They can be in your community/neighborhood at a corner cafe, a special store or park. Often they are right in front of our noses if we will just look.
Exploring the powerful, mutually beneficial connection between market and square in three U.S. cities.
After a devastating flood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, community activists created a new market from scratch in the emerging NewBo district, creating one of the best U.S. city squares.
In 2014, Flint Farmers Market moved to a new location in downtown and has become Flint's de facto town square, home to 50 local businesses and hundreds of community events every year.
After an informal market in Queens was shut down, public outcry led to the development of a special permit mechanism that enabled the creation of a formal marketplace.
Tivoli Gardens is one of the world's most incredible examples of a multi-layered hub of social life and an example for parks to follow.
We have recently created a documentary, The Place Man, about our work in placemaking over the last 50 years, made by the wonderful Guillermo Bernal. It got us thinking about the state of the placemaking movement and what's next.