Rethinking Public Spaces

I would like to take a second here and point out that I am not posting this as any sort of statement explaining disdain for a specific location instead I am just wanted to point out something that I thought was very strange and wonder out loud why it was that way.

Now, to get everything off my chest, I walk past Cleveland's Soldier's and Sailor's Monument every work day and actually rather like the area. I enjoy the way that it is depressed within it's square, how it is surrounded by a rather nice plaza with some rather pretty landscaping and I especially enjoy the intricate statuary of the monument itself.





That being said, I noticed something last week that made me pause a bit.

In this photo notice the nice corner entry into the square itself, how the stairs welcome you and offer a rather nice framed corner view of the monument. Heck, the thing looks like a nice place to enjoy a fine lunch during a Cleveland summer (especially when the winter fences are gone), right? It appears you could sit on the steps, the surrounding low walls, almost everywhere and enjoy many vantage points to take in the surrounding bustle!


Not so much though. Someone along the line made the decision that they didn't want anyone sitting on the low walls surrounding the monument and had some rather uncomfortable looking spike strips installed. I fear it was done for litigious reasons but what has inadvertently happened is that a rather nice public space has become relatively inaccessible or less usable to the general public.

There are many public spaces around Cleveland that have been altered or made inaccessible to the public over the years. Some could argue that with the growth of the personal automobile (and subsequent removal of streetcar lines) and some poor urban planning the whole of Public Square is rather unsuccessful.

There has been some discussion about the whole making Cleveland's public spaces actually more public but I am not personally aware of anything happening lately. If anyone else has I hope that you could bring it to my attention. If not, perhaps it is time to start mentioning something about this again, especially as Cleveland hopes to bring more people back downtown. I mean, everyone likes a good sit, right?