Community Concerns - Parks and Recreation
Parks and places for recreation are crucial amenities for great communities. While this website doesn’t address the creation of forests, large parks, stadiums, and large recreation facilities, we discuss the formation of smaller public gathering places. Pocket parks, civic greens, plazas, playgrounds, monuments, and small gathering places are the lifeblood of our urban-civic lives. These places provide points of connection for people of different ages, races, backgrounds and cultures.
Communities can use vacant lots, which may not be well-suited for the development of a building, and instead create a public gathering space. Doing so will provide an amenity for the community, make the development of nearby lots more viable, and provide an opportunity for a community to establish or reinforce its character and pride. When well-conceived, public gathering places are embodiments of civic pride.
Neighborhoods - Nodes of Places
Mixed-use districts are only complete when they contain small gathering places near businesses, houses, and schools. They are amenities which provide mixed-use areas with those special places that facilitate the chance meeting between friends or the arranged lunch between business associates.
Buildings - Stimulating Special Places
The positioning and design of buildings has the ability to form gathering areas in vibrant, urban areas and in more tranquil, residential areas. On the other hand, buildings can also be detrimental to the success of public gathering places. Discover what makes a well-formed gathering place and what doesn’t.
Neighborhoods - Gathering Places
The design of gathering places, with a range of scales and levels of activity, is critical for walkable neighborhoods. Discover how scale, character, use, and intensity are all aspects of gathering places that must be thoughtfully calibrated in order to make each space successful and well-suited to its role.
Public Places - Small Gathering Spaces
Even very small pocket parks and plazas can have an enormous effect on the health of a neighborhood. They can be, and should be, created in different forms and styles and encourage different levels of activity. Communities should not miss the opportunity to create small gathering places because, without costing too much money, intimate gathering places can establish character and a level of quality.