NewBo City Market: When a Market is Also the Town Square
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.
Bring Back the Public Square: Historically, public squares served as common ground. Today, we need to reinvent these community anchors to rouse vital public interaction. Squares—which can take the form of parks, markets, even shopping streets or plazas—become sources of civic pride, sites of protest and conversation, and social hubs.
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.
Markets and squares are the heart of communities where people gather, celebrate, play, and enjoy life on a daily basis.
From a desolate car-centric wasteland, Campus Martius was transformed into the vibrant, thriving Heart of the New Detroit