Neighborhoods - Gathering Places

Public gathering places are the soul of a community.  While the street corridor is the primary public space of almost any city, periodic civic spaces are the places where people can gather, pause, reflect, meet, and commune.  All individuals need to gather with others – this is human nature.  Public places that are well-located and well-formed can provide a community with those feature places where people, even ones from vastly different backgrounds, can connect with each other.

The planning and design of public gathering places is an art and science of its own.  We have a few pages dedicated to different types of gathering places elsewhere in this website but, on this page we’ll review only the broadest aspects of public gathering places: how they contribute to the entirety of a well-planned vibrant community.

Designers can fine-tune the desired character for just about any public gathering place. From hardscaped event venues and urban business districts to traditional residential neighborhoods, well-designed public gathering places can provide a greater level of personal connection. When well-conceived, they become a source of pride and economic advancement for even the most modest of neighborhoods.

For more urban business districts, small gathering spaces can be valuable assets. Intimate pocket parks can provide a place for business or social meetings, eating (especially where sidewalks are too narrow to allow for sidewalk cafes) accompanied by live musical performances or other programming. Because they are small, these spaces can cost less to design and build, can even utilize spaces that would otherwise be vacant or dilapidated, and can be designed to express the unique character of a community.  While citizens should be involved in the creation of these places, small urban gathering spaces should be well-designed by skilled professionals, otherwise they can become liabilities for a neighborhood. 

In traditional residential neighborhoods, pocket parks can be designed with a wide range of elements which define the unique character of a community.  With elements such as seating, vegetation, public art and unique pieces, a small pocket park can be traditional, formal, whimsical or just weird.

Playgrounds provide not only a necessary place for kids to expend energy and get to know other kids, they also provide opportunities for adults to get to know each other.

Needing little more than grass and some well-placed (and selected) trees, a village green can supply a simple open space that visitors can use freely. These can be designed to offer a more formal feel and atmosphere, or a more casual – even rural – feel.

Dog parks (fenced-in areas where dogs can roam off the leash) provide a special opportunity for communities.  These parks tend to be used 365 days a year by people who have to (or want to) get their dogs exercise.  Large, medium, or small – dog parks can fulfill the desire of a community seeking to populate an area every day of every week.

Large parks can be placed between areas of development intensity, giving local residents, workers, and visitors natural amenities and even event venues within biking distance, micro-mobility distance, or longer walking distances.    

Every once in a while a community has the opportunity to form a civic place – such as a city hall, library, or heritage site – that has the opportunity to inspire an entire city.  It’s important for local governments to recognize that potential when they have it and seize the opportunity to build a lasting source of civic pride and value.  All too often, however, a government will simply seek the cheapest, most expedient solution (like placing their city hall in a retail strip mall) resulting in long-term mediocrity.  The greatest public spaces that form the hearts of our most revered historic cities weren’t created in adherence to a short-term economic assessment, they were formed by the desire to build a lasting legacy of quality.