Classifying Open Space: City Squares, Commons and Public Gardens
January 1st, 2009This is part 2/6 in a series overviewing The Normal Requirements of American Towns and Cities in Respect to Public Open Spaces, an article written by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and John Nolen that appeared in Charities and the Commons journal of social work in 1906.
II. CITY SQUARES, COMMONS AND PUBLIC GARDENS
Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon is a great example of an urban city square.
An opinion prevails very generally that a city can not have too many “squares” or “breathing places”
On account of the almost constant passing through such squares the best arrangement is to provide for reasonably direct and convenient paths along the lines most used. Where this is not done many of those who use the square are likely to be so irritated by the indirectness as to miss much of the pleasure they might otherwise receive.
Shade trees, either as a complete grove or in rows along the paths or grouped in some more complex plan, are almost essential features of such squares.
City Squares are certainly prevalent in many older cities, though they seem to be noticeably absent in Oklahoma City; especially downtown.
The properties adjacent to Bicentennial Park have not attracted the development necessary to integrate this open space into the urban fabric of Oklahoma City.
There are a few that I can think of, most notably Bicentennial Park (or Civic Center Park) which is mostly underutilized, but has found footing as the site of the Downtown in December ice-skating rink. Still, its proximity to the county jail has stymied development in the area and prevented it from being integrated into the broader fabric of downtown. Also, the Myriad Gardens would qualify as a public garden, but the flawed design and poorly related adjacent uses have to this point prevented it from being a effectively utilized by the public. This may all change with the completion of Devon Tower and more development to the south of the park as Core to Shore begins to be developed out.
The Core to Shore plan will also contribute to the urban open space with the addition of a downtown park. This will provide a much needed “central park”, but the city still needs a truly urban open space, such as that provided to Portland by Pioneer Square, which is referred to as the “City’s Living Room”. In the end, even if all of the plans for Core to Shore are fully realized, Oklahoma City will continue to lack quality urban open spaces – like Pioneer Square – that are effectively integrated into the fabric of the city.
January 4th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Core to Shore will still be such an interesting improvement to OKC and possibly most of the region. Core to Shore will bring much needed urban and natural development with the parks it will construct and all the urban neighborhoods. The “Central Park” of it all will still be a much needed step in improving downtown OKC. But as said it may still lack in the quantity and quality departments but will put OKC back on the map in some areas. Core to Shore will completely revolutionize OKC. And which is why the whole C2S process needs to be speeded up.
January 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Keagan –
I completely agree. I didn’t mean to communicate in anyway that Core to Shore wasn’t a great thing, but merely to point out that OKC really needs an urban city square. And while the large “central park” at the heart of the C2S plan will be wonderful, it will fill a different role in the city’s urban open space system. Thus, even with its completion, there will still be the need for a viable urban square.
January 4th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Don’t worry I didn’t take it that you said C2S was bad, I was just stating how much it will improve the aspects of OKC and the “central park” of it may be our only ticket close to a city square, which will be better than nothing. I haven’t really studied these city squares but it seems they are great for a city. But yes there will be a need for one later on is OKC really wants to achieve it’s role as becoming a more of a major city than it is now.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hey Blair,
I’m not entirely sure that C2S will come up short. We haven’t yet seen anything proposed. One thing is certain though: There are some real visionaries in charge of C2S, and there are also some real lame bozos in charge of C2S. Will C2S be bold, impressive, and substantially elevate OKC’s status as a major city? Or will C2S be a conservative, watered-down approach to stimulate development south of downtown? It remains to be seen, and I’m certain of neither, but hopeful that city leaders won’t be afraid to ask city residents to approve a very broad and impressive list of MAPS 3 amenities.
I’ve heard the “C2S Central Park” (yet to be named) compared to Chicago’s Millennium Park. I have no objection to that..
January 12th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Making a portion of the C2S park something like Millennium Park could help it fit the requirements of public square and natural park (a two in one deal). In the C2S plans there are several parks/open spaces/plazas shown. The amazing thing is just how much thought really is being put into C2S. We can only hope that development of the caliber that city leaders are expecting will come to the areas around the park, because as your post points out Blair, the private development surrounding the public space makes just as much of a difference in defining it as a “good” or “functional” space.
Maybe the city should look at why the area around the civic plazas on the west side are not developing, and look at how to encourage development there. There are some great surface lots facing Bicentennial Park- are those lots owned by the city, how can we encourage development there? The whole idea of beautifying the civic plaza area decades ago was surely to help development, so what went wrong and why did the city not follow through? Is there a danger of the same thing happening when we build our Core to Shore parks?
January 13th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Don’t forget about Kerr Park/Couch Park, the closest thing we have to an urban square, as it is mostly paved. I would like to see it renamed ______ Square when it is revamped by Sandridge.