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Public Spaces

CorsoCorso Posts: 201
edited August 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
A friend of mine sent me this video today and after watching it I am impressed with the quality of life, acceptance and belief that this city and its people have towards public and shared spaces. After watching other related videos on this site I am amazed that the city space thrives in all weather conditions. What a lovely and beautiful city. Does your community have anything similar to this infrastructure or shared space?

http://www.streetfilms.org/copenhagens- ... eed-zones/
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • RKCNDYRKCNDY Posts: 31,013
    Yes/no...here there used to be a street that was blocked off downtown (it was designed to be blocked off as the street is paved with bricks and not asphalt) it was between a shopping mall and open seating area. People who work downtown would walk around and eat lunch there. Traffic got so bad, they had to open the street to traffic. People still eat there it's just not as open. There are a lot of 'green spaces' around Seattle, they are just not huge and sprawling.
    Recently, the city agreed to letting food vendors (lunch trucks) park in vacant areas, places where buildings were torn down and the space is just being neglected. The city cleans up the space, and rents it for a small fee to the vendors. The vendors are usually new/smaller chefs who cannot afford to rent a restaurant. People get good food, the chefs get their name out there, everybody wins. Many of these trucks have a huge following, some go to a different place everyday. (The lunch trucks are still inspected by the health dept)
    The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

    - Christopher McCandless
  • adropintheparkadropinthepark Posts: 475
    zchick wrote:
    Yes/no...here there used to be a street that was blocked off downtown (it was designed to be blocked off as the street is paved with bricks and not asphalt) it was between a shopping mall and open seating area. People who work downtown would walk around and eat lunch there. Traffic got so bad, they had to open the street to traffic. People still eat there it's just not as open. ...quote]


    Actually, if I recall correctly, Nordstrom strong armed the city into opening it up as part of the agreement for them to move into the old Frederick and Nelson bldg. They used the flow of traffic as part of the argument. They wanted to make sure shoppers could get to them.
    I hope that it goes back to the way it was someday. It worked well as an extension of Westlake Park.

    NYC has some nice spots blocked off from traffic.
    I carried a watermelon
  • mookeywrenchmookeywrench Posts: 5,870
    zchick wrote:
    Yes/no...here there used to be a street that was blocked off downtown (it was designed to be blocked off as the street is paved with bricks and not asphalt) it was between a shopping mall and open seating area. People who work downtown would walk around and eat lunch there. Traffic got so bad, they had to open the street to traffic. People still eat there it's just not as open.

    I give up, what are you talking about?
    Westlake Center? 1st & Pike?
    350x700px-LL-d2f49cb4_vinyl-needle-scu-e1356666258495.jpeg
  • Heatherj43Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    In between the southern and northern peninsula's of Michigan is an island called Mackinaw Island in which no motor vehicles are allowed. They have bicycles and horses for transportation. Its a huge tourist spot. You have to take a ferry to get there. Its not a little tiny island, people actually live there, usually they have a summer home there, or college students will live and work there during the summer.
    Its a great place to visit.
    Save room for dessert!
  • nuffingmannuffingman Posts: 3,014
    Heatherj43 wrote:
    In between the southern and northern peninsula's of Michigan is an island called Mackinaw Island in which no motor vehicles are allowed. They have bicycles and horses for transportation. Its a huge tourist spot. You have to take a ferry to get there. Its not a little tiny island, people actually live there, usually they have a summer home there, or college students will live and work there during the summer.
    Its a great place to visit.
    It sounds like bliss. My daughter has just sent me info about Rottnest Island just off Perth which sounds similar. Over in the UK we don't do enough. We visited Bruges once and were told to get our cars out of the centre if we were using them that day. Sunday the centre is completely closed to traffic. Excellent!!!
  • CorsoCorso Posts: 201
    This question is for the folks living in Seattle about Mayor McGinn. Is there support for the Walk, Bike Ride initiative and infrastructure improvements or is the public opinion sour of his methods? I am aware of the alliance of groups in the local area that are supporting these changes however is this a struggle of old and new ideas?
  • DissidentmanDissidentman Posts: 15,378
    Corso wrote:
    This question is for the folks living in Seattle about Mayor McGinn. Is there support for the Walk, Bike Ride initiative and infrastructure improvements or is the public opinion sour of his methods? I am aware of the alliance of groups in the local area that are supporting these changes however is this a struggle of old and new ideas?

    "People love their cars."
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