Author Archives: Andrew Manshel

Learning from the Mistakes of Bryant Park

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BP Before

Bryant Park Before the Restoration

BP After

Bryant Park, from the same angle, taken After the Restoration

The details matter!

There are two widely held mindsets that often stand in the way of public space improvements. The first is the assertion of objections to proposed actions or changes based on hypothetical predictions of negative outcomes drawn from assumptions that aren’t based on actual observations or data. An example is the automatic reaction to proposals for public seating — that they will become a magnet anti-social behavior – particularly for the homeless. This is something that “everyone seems to know,” that, actual experience with public space demonstrates isn’t necessarily the case.

The second is that successful public space or economic revitalization strategies that work in one place aren’t transferable to another place – because one of the two places is somehow unique or different. I have been told that the success of Bryant Park is unique because it is in Manhattan, or that it is in midtown – and therefore programs and strategies that worked there won’t work in other places. In fact, before Bryant Park reopened, we were told that many of our ideas were impossible because of the park’s unique location. Moveable chairs, outdoor movies, elaborately planted gardens all wouldn’t work at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street, we were often told. Now all of those strategies seem obvious successes.

But nothing about Bryant Park’s success was inevitable, and a number of the elements of the park’s redesign were failures (although none of those were among the recommendations made by William H. (“Holly”) Whyte in his 1979 analysis of the park’s problems). The important take-away from this is that these failures were quickly identified and new programmatic or design solutions were created to address them. At the center of great public space management is an iterative process of observing how real people use public space and adjusting strategies to deal with issues as they arise. It is difficult to admit failure, particularly in a political environment, which comes with the territory of public space. But successful public space managers have to be nimble, identify problems and attempt new solutions until they get it right – and be willing to recognize what isn’t working. Continue reading →

Getting It Right

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My only prior trip to Cincinnati was in 2004. The downtown was deserted, particularly the central public space, Fountain Square. The neighborhood north of the downtown, called Over-the-Rhine, is the home of The Cincinnati Music Hall (now under extensive renovation), where the orchestra and opera play, had a terrible reputation and not too many years after my visit was the site of political protests related to racial and economic issues.

But a recent visit showed an incredible transformation. The downtown was lively and busy – including at night and on the weekends. Fountain Square had been redesigned – moving the historic fountain. And while it still has a lot of hard surfaces, it has moveable seating, constant activity, food trucks and really attractive and well-maintained plantings. It was busy all the time, and was surrounded by a lively retail mix.

And Over-the-Rhine has become a dynamic, active neighborhood. Most striking to me was that all of the retail along Vine Street, the main commercial corridor, was local – rather than national chains. The stores were a great mix of interesting food, clothing and other offerings. There was a great deal of development activity – particularly adaptive reuse of architecturally interesting commercial buildings into residential developments. Over-the-Rhine, given its 19th Century history as a home to European immigrants, has an abundance of high quality, funky revivalist structures (French, Dutch, German, Moorish and who-knows-what).

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Photos from Cleveland’s Public Square

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Most/all public spaces can be made to work with good programming and maintenance. Below are some images and suggestions as to how to improve this one.

Low maintenance planting beds send exactly the wrong message -- that the space is designed to defeat human intervention.

Needs more colorful, more imaginative plantings. This is a really inexpensive fix. Low maintenance planting beds send exactly the wrong message — that the space is designed to defeat human intervention.

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When will we ever learn?

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A recent trip to Cleveland enabled me to see Public Square on its opening day. This $50 million project includes some tropes that have become standard in new public space designs (a food kiosk, a water feature), but at the end of the day the space as it was presented on opening day appeared under-programmed. Most importantly, it lacks both shade and moveable chairs. The single coffee kiosk won’t create enough activity to animate the space — particularly during the “shoulder” periods of nights and weekends. The design, by James Corner/Field Operations, very much reminded me of the failed Pershing Square in Los Angeles, one of the country’s most glaringly unsuccessful public spaces of the last fifty years — now in the process of being entirely rethought. Both have extensive water features and food kiosks — but are mostly hardscape with fixed seating and no shade.

That being said almost any public space can be made successful through good programming and operations and the good folks in Cleveland need to make sure that they protect their capital investment by providing sufficient resources to program and maintain the space. It has a large lawn area, which is great — but someone has to be there every day to make sure that it is adequately watered and mowed — and to close it when it is too wet or stressed from use from events. The space needs more commercial activities — a green market, food trucks, crafts booths and more food service. All of these activities must occur on nights and weekends.

Cleveland has come a long way in the 40 years since I went to college in Northern Ohio. Terminal Tower which was near empty in the 70’s and its interior public spaces are now lively. The gigantic former Stouffer’s Hotel (most recently The Renaissance) appears empty and is waiting for redevelopment. The Downtown has lots of bar and restaurant activity at night. Public Square was a forlorn, desolate space for decades, and while the renovated facility is shiny and new, because the design ignores much of what we have learned about what makes public spaces successful, it is going to need an intensive and sustained intervention to make it thrive and become an asset to Cleveland’s revitalization.

Photos to come. As this is my first post, I welcome suggestions as to format and functionality.