Rue Mouffetard
Paris, France

People's Choice

These are the places we remember most vividly, the places where serendipitous things happen, the places we tell stories about.

Browse through over 600 public spaces to see what makes places great--and why each one is unique. While you're here, you can nominate your own favorites or add to the Hall of Shame.

New Great Places

Buffalo Waterfront
Buffalo, NY, USA
by: Project for Public Spaces

from the HALL of SHAME:

Grace Plaza
New York, NY, USA
by: Jen Sloan

Pegram Park:

(12/16/08 by George Pegram)

The Pegram Town Hall and fire service have both moved out of the Park and center of the Town to a location 1 mile away which destroys the entire plan of a Town center. The Town has been embroiled in lawsuits over a hybrid sewer which serves few and violates the Town's 201 plan and ignores adjacent established sewer facilities of Nashville and Kingston Springs which border Pegram. The sewer has not been properly maintained and requires rehabilitation with only 139 of 800 households being served. Non-users are now forced to pay questionable "ready to serve" fees to subsidize a system which does not serve the identified need. The Town is embroiled in a lawsuit over poor construction decisions by its Officials and has neglected the Streets, infrastructure and other services to the detriment of the Community. The streets and neighborhoods are neither walkable nor connected in favor of budget construction and development. Our park is bounded by a main line railroad with no buffer and a narrow congested poor visibility street. Good planning and visioning have been replaced by poor decision-making by unskilled Officials. We have a Hall of Shame and a Wall of Blame which overshadow and color the concept of "good public space." Greatly exaggerated space would be more appropriate."

Euclid Street:

(12/12/08 by jeff merz)

The beauty of the Euclid corridor is that it provides a spine from which the most incredible early 20th century neighborhoods in the country radiate. This area was originally the showpiece of Saint Louis' silk stocking crowd at a time when the city was the fourth largest in the country. The quality of the architecture and craftsmanship of the commercial and residential buildings makes for a wonderful walking experience and is quintessential of turn-of-20th-century urban neighborhoods of solid wealth. Certainly not a museum relic, the area continues to draw creative, alternative, diverse Saint Louisans, transplants and visitors due to its central metro location, cosmopolitan feel, easy transit access and the unique experience it provides."

The Loop:

(12/12/08 by jeff merz)

I grew up in Saint Louis in the 1970s/80s. Living in an exurb we would come to hang out in the Loop. It was very urban but still a 'suburb' so it had the perception of being safer than the city. The area works because it is surrounded by a very progressive neighborhood near a major university (Washington University). It provides a central neighborhood for professors, students, old Saint Louis money living in early 20th century single and multi-family homes, near-city working class black and white families and a sizable gay community. It is very multi-ethnic (which is somewhat unusual for Saint Louis)and operates on a 24 hour schedule. Most of all, the Loop is not a 'boutique' neighborhood street which was renovated overnight. It has been rejuvenated through the years on a continual basis and has remained a consistent, stable area retail/commercial force in the Saint Louis area. "

Chandni Chowk :

(12/03/08 by Bradford Daly)

Here is a set of photos from Chandni Chowk in Delhi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradbrad/sets/72157610685366212/"

South Station:

(11/16/08 by Ted Kochanski)

I remember it during its nadir-period of the 1970's when there were sometimes several inches of discarded paper on the floor of the waiting room. While attending MIT -- I would occasionally take the train back to see my folks in Connecticut -- rather than the cheaper, more frequent and more rapid bus. I made this sacrifice mostly to experience the South Station ethos and try to imagine what it was like when 40 million people hustled and bustled through it in the early 20th Century -- I've always like old relics of buildings -- particularly if they had potential for functional restoration. Today -- South Station is once again poised to grow back some of what it lost. Assuming the financial panic abates there is supposed to be a new tower over the tracks and an interior connection to the adjoining bus station. The Post Office is also trying to sell it adjacent general mail processing facility. The combination of the Post Office site and the air rights over the track areas of South Station offers the opportunity for a major developer or perhaps a collaborative effort to takedown the South Postal Annex and create a major indoor/outdoor development fully integrated with South Station’s transportation access and fronting on the Fort Point Channel as well. Indoor / outdoor design is important in Boston because for every beautifully brilliant skied pleasantly warm day during the late spring, through fall and occasionally even into the early winter period -- there are two nasty wet, slushy or cold rainy days. Finally, there are a few weeks of baking or steaming in the late summer when indoor is nice as well. "

City Hall Plaza:

(11/16/08 by Ted Kochanski)

City Hall & Plaza -- a brutal comentary on Boston Since City Hall has now made the #1 position in the list of 10 ugliest buildings in the world - -we can't tear it down -- No we should blow it up! As for the Plaza -- well there was an excellent opportunity to reconnect Hanover Street that now crosses the former Central Artery no-mans land Unfortunately, the powers that be -- chose not to take the opportunity. Instead we got some weird benches and pseudo-arcade along Cambridge Street. The T at one time had a plan to rebuild the underground Government Center station -- replacing the concrete bunker entrance with something open and glassy -- given the T's current state of lack of money -- not sure if that is still in the plans. There was a proposal to build a hotel on a corner of the plaza -- but that was nixed by the Federal bureaucrats in the JFK Building's low rise who didn't want people looking down on them. Best solution -- sell the entirety (City Hall and Plaza) to a private developer and let a new team take a crack at producing something everyone will at least find tolerable. Westy "

Eureka Springs Downtown Historic District:

(11/04/08 by mike proctor)

It is a unique Victorian village with a Trolley system to get you from place to place. The downtown area has beautiful springs with gorgeous flowers in season. It is easy to walk the downtown area with shops, eateries and hotels. Free information is available at isurfeurekasprings.com"

Teardrop Park:

(10/26/08 by Jennifer Vaccaro)

I visited Teardrop Park last week and I was completely blown away by it. I thought it was beautifully designed. The materials are unique to the urban environment and used in a very creative way. I particularly like the stone retaining wall along the path that is comprised of bluestone set on its end instead of stacked traditionally. The series of surprises created by the circulation pattern are an asset, not a deficit. If you could walk into the park and immediately see into every part of it- what makes you want to walk further in? A sense of mystery is a good thing. Further, I was delighted by the tall buildings all the way around the perimeter of the park. If you look up at the way they frame the park, the shape is very interesting, and I had the sensation of being in a vast atrium which I rather enjoyed. It was like being outdoors and indoors at the same time. It was not dark or gloomy at all. The reflected light from the buildings lit the park up very well. My parents are visiting NYC this weekend and I strongly recommended teardrop park as a spot to visit. We need more unique parks like this. Not every park has to be a Bryant Park, which is amazing in its own right. Can't both spaces be equally successful for completely different reasons and uses? So what if the park is tucked away and geared more for local residents- it seems to me that that area is pretty densely populated with high rise apartments. Having a local neighborhood park that is quiet and restful is an asset to those residents. Jennifer Vaccaro Student ASLA Temple University"

Diagonal Mar:

(10/19/08 by Nathan Asire)

I think your assessment of Diagonal Mar is too negative. As an architecture student, I lived and studied in Barcelona for a semester in 2004. As part of my coursework, I did case studies of many of the parks and public spaces in Barcelona and was grievously disappointed with them in general - until I came to Parc Diagonal Mar. I will agree I was skeptical when I stepped off Diagonal into a concrete jungle of large spidery sculptural forms - "oh boy, another architect trying to make a statement", I thought. But as I progressed through the park with my classmates, the landscape slowly started to peel away our thick skins of architectural criticism. The ponds were a welcome element (regardless of the fact that you couldn't easily touch the water) because this was the only public place I'd found in the city that had ANY substantial amount of water. The ponds had reeds and green grasses growing around the edges, the first hint of anything natural that I'd seen in months. As we walked across a bridge, we came to several man-made grassy hills that a multitude of children were rolling down over, and over, and over... yes, even we joined them. Next to that were large slides that fit into the hillside. I have to admit, they did not get the coefficient of friction figured out on these, and we had to scoot down them on our butts. Atop one of these knolls, we had a refreshing breeze and an elevated view of our surroundings, two more things that can't be found anywhere in the downtown, and this mountain girl was poignantly craving. Across to another part of the park, we found a delightful music garden with chimes, whistles, and many other instruments that were played by jumping from tile to tile. We had to wait in line behind the small children who were thoroughly partaking of these delights. Tire swings, jumglejims and other stlyized playground equipment was also to be found. Some abstractly shaped concrete forms scattered about the grassy areas appeared at first to be merely useless sculptural forms, but we found that they could accommodate several sleepy adults sprawled in a variety of different afternoon-nap style positions. We progressed right on up to the rocky seaside and enjoyed the spray coming off the Mediterranean. All in all, I was taken greatly by surprise by this gem of a park - its natural elements, musical toys, relaxed nap-able areas, and variety in general as well as its size (this was the biggest park i had found in BCN) all made for a very memorable day. While there is certainly place for criticisms of this park, I think it was an overall success, and should be considered in its context, by someone who has lived in the city and understands the precedents and the obstacles to creating good public spaces in this city. I would love to see you send somebody back and do another analysis of this park, and see what happens. Also another question: did you go on a sunny day or a rainy day?"

Paley Park:

(10/16/08 by andre nyc)

Looked really lovely after the rain that weekend in september. See a photo there http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycandre/2947025300/"