Saturday, August 09, 2014

What makes a Successful Public Space?

Hotel Portland, since demolished
Hotel Portland, since demolished (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Pettygrove Park in Portland, Oregon. ...
English: Pettygrove Park in Portland, Oregon. Created by Lawrence Halprin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Occupy Portland protest at Pioneer Co...
English: Occupy Portland protest at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, Oregon on October 6, 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What makes a good public space? One that people want to use and is used by a large number of different people? The Project for Public Spaces is a good source for information about what a successful public space should have, today I am going to look at two public spaces in the city of Portland Pettygrove City Park and Pioneer Courthouse Square.

The latter one is known as Portland's "living room" while the other languishes despite being close to office buildings and residences.