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Old 04-04-2014, 04:22 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,244,119 times
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It's been so long since I lived there, and I didn't really live there, my parents did while I was in college, so I can't really say. It was certainly a landmark in town, and it is in the downtown, though not necessarily the exact geographic center of same.

@urbanlife-I have never heard of a park where people couldn't gather.

BTW, does the name "Bowling Green" ring a bell. That's the name of a town in both KY and OH. Here's what Wiki says about the name of the Kentucky town:
**There is some controversy over the source of the name. The city itself follows the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town Bolin Green after the Bowling Green in New York City where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets during the American Revolution.[4] Some historians[who?] dispute this, however, and credit Bowling Green, Virginia, or a personal "ball alley game" of Robert Moore's instead.[5] Early records indicate that the city name was also spelled Bowlingreen.**

Nothing noted in Wiki about the origin of the name of the Ohio city. But anyway, it sounds like the Bowling Green in NYC could be considered a "town square".
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Old 04-04-2014, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,744 posts, read 74,721,167 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Maybe this from wikipedia will end this rather argument:
Exactly. Not all. And how any one person can decide for an entire town (that he or she may never have been to!) that the public gathering space in the center of town isn't a town square is beyond me.

Quote:
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, piazza, plaza, and town green.
The operative words here are "open public space in the center of town" and "community gatherings".

Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78 View Post
First, to be a town square, the park has to be centrally located within the town, then the park needs to be centered around open space for people to gather.
So ... wait. You're changing your definitions again. It's hard for us common folk to keep up.

By your new definition, this



is a town square. It's smack in the center of town, and do note the open space in the center for concerts, etc. Lots of festivals happen here in the summer and fall. Several days a week in the growing season, farm stands line the sidewalks. I imagine back in the day this was a hot spot for political tours, Independence Day oratory, etc. This is only half of Perry Square; the other half has a gazebo for even more public gatherings.

So pretty in the spring, isn't it?
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Old 04-04-2014, 04:59 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
46,009 posts, read 53,194,339 times
Reputation: 15174
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Nothing noted in Wiki about the origin of the name of the Ohio city. But anyway, it sounds like the Bowling Green in NYC could be considered a "town square".
Didn't know there were other Bowling Greens besides the Manhattan one. Wikipedia calls it a plaza, about the same thing?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bowli...08.61,,0,-0.64
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Old 04-04-2014, 05:11 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,244,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Didn't know there were other Bowling Greens besides the Manhattan one. Wikipedia calls it a plaza, about the same thing?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bowli...08.61,,0,-0.64
I'd guess a "plaza" is about the same thing as a bowling green, since Wiki listed a lot of synonyms, that being one of them. See how much you can learn on CD? Have you ever been to Saratoga Springs, NY? They have some sort of "green".
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Old 04-04-2014, 05:17 PM
 
92,144 posts, read 122,355,529 times
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Here is an interesting streetview of the Ithaca Commons pedestrian mall getting wrecked: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=ithac...347.17,,0,-0.2

Here are streetviews of other squares I thought of: https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=hanove...,100.9,,0,5.31

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=frankl...,0.009645&z=19

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=armory...,0.009645&z=19

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=public...,67.57,,0,5.71

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=square...,288.28,,0,3.5
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Old 04-04-2014, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
46,001 posts, read 35,010,603 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81 View Post
Exactly. Not all. And how any one person can decide for an entire town (that he or she may never have been to!) that the public gathering space in the center of town isn't a town square is beyond me.

The operative words here are "open public space in the center of town" and "community gatherings".


So ... wait. You're changing your definitions again. It's hard for us common folk to keep up.

By your new definition, this



is a town square. It's smack in the center of town, and do note the open space in the center for concerts, etc. Lots of festivals happen here in the summer and fall. Several days a week in the growing season, farm stands line the sidewalks. I imagine back in the day this was a hot spot for political tours, Independence Day oratory, etc. This is only half of Perry Square; the other half has a gazebo for even more public gatherings.

So pretty in the spring, isn't it?
My definition has not changed.


Great picture of Perry Square. It definitely matches the idea of where a town square should be located. It is definitely more park than it is town square, but still a great example.
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Old 04-04-2014, 06:41 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
46,001 posts, read 35,010,603 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
BTW, does the name "Bowling Green" ring a bell. That's the name of a town in both KY and OH. Here's what Wiki says about the name of the Kentucky town:
**There is some controversy over the source of the name. The city itself follows the first county commissioners' meeting (1798), which named the town Bolin Green after the Bowling Green in New York City where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and used the lead to make bullets during the American Revolution.[4] Some historians[who?] dispute this, however, and credit Bowling Green, Virginia, or a personal "ball alley game" of Robert Moore's instead.[5] Early records indicate that the city name was also spelled Bowlingreen.**

Nothing noted in Wiki about the origin of the name of the Ohio city. But anyway, it sounds like the Bowling Green in NYC could be considered a "town square".
Bowling Green is a really interesting space. I could definitely imagine it being used as such back in the day. Though these days it is filled with tourists taking pictures with the bull. I remember the story of the King George III statue being used to make bullets, I didn't realize it was located there. Great little bit of history.
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Old 04-04-2014, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,244,119 times
Reputation: 35920
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78 View Post
My definition has not changed.


Great picture of Perry Square. It definitely matches the idea of where a town square should be located. It is definitely more park than it is town square, but still a great example.
You're definitely "Bowling Alone" with this one, urbanlife78!
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Old 04-04-2014, 11:45 PM
 
4,019 posts, read 3,931,431 times
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Interesting topic. One thing I noticed. The two squares might appear to have the same layout, but there's a major difference which is...the first one isn't surrounded by automobile traffic. The pedestrian area is not broken up by the streets and goes all the way up to meet the buildings, nearly uninterrupted by automobile traffic. That's what I hate about modern parks and squares. They tend to be surrounded by heavy vehicle traffic which is why you can't really relax in them because of all the noise (and air) pollution created by the fast-moving vehicle traffic on all sides.

Quote:
Originally Posted by urbanlife78 View Post






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Old 04-04-2014, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Portland, Oregon
46,001 posts, read 35,010,603 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cisco kid View Post
Interesting topic. One thing I noticed. The two squares might appear to have the same layout, but there's a major difference which is...the first one isn't surrounded by automobile traffic. The pedestrian area is not broken up by the streets and goes all the way up to meet the buildings, uninterrupted by auto traffic. That's what I hate about modern parks and squares. They tend to be surrounded by heavy vehicle traffic which is why you can't really relax in them because of all the noise (and air) pollution created by the fast-moving vehicle traffic on all sides.
Often times that is true, thankfully in Portland this square is surrounded by light rail tracks because this is a transit stop, and the streets surrounding it aren't that big and service more local vehicle traffic because they are not major roads besides Broadway Ave.

Funny you mention the square going all the way to the buildings, I really like that feature, and one of the newest plazas in downtown Portland actually goes to the building on one side so it sort of has that same effect.
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