Something in Europe has always struck me as a big difference from my home country; the neighborhood public plazas. This trip has strongly reminded me of that difference from our first stop in Los Angeles, California.
One day we went to the original Farmer's Market, a huge indoor market with dozens of vendor stalls for foods, and lots of restaurant stalls. Next to the old market there is now a new development named The Grove - it was formerly an orchard.* It's a very clean, modern and beautiful place - a small neighborhood, really - with a central water feature and outdoor seating for restaurants, and a lot of shops. Looks great. Feels safe and comfortable. Reminds me so much of a theme park (Disneyland, &c). Because it is.
Look closely at the photo and you'll see that it's all major brand and upscale shops and restaurants, and a lot of huge advertising video screens. One building really blew my mind - photo below. Is that the centuries old City Hall of a European city? No. It's a Nike store! Swoosh!
OK, I get it, in America real estate is a valuable commodity, and the owners need to make a large profit from the land. So if you want public open space, the government can buy it for park land, at inflated market rate; otherwise, it has to be a shopping center or amusement park where corporations can make big profits from the people using the space.
People we saw at The Grove were having a good time. There were families with kids who maybe were just there to enjoy the impeccably-kept landscaping - it was very beautiful - and maybe get an ice cream. Others were there to shop, or have a meal, or both. But to be honest, the place gave me the creeps because it embodied, to me, a basic flaw in society: the commercialization and commodification of everything. Even open space. The Commons.
European cities are different, and I'm being careful here not to romanticize Europe. Every city we've visited has plazas in every neighborhood; some large, some tiny. Below are photos of two different plazas in the Casco Viejo neighborhood (the old section) of Bilbao, Spain. These are similar to plazas everywhere.
Those are apartments above the ground floor; people live there. There is every variety of shop, bar, restaurant, and office in the ground-level spaces. There are tables, chairs umbrellas for the restaurants and bars. Although some of these are popular and often crowded tourist attractions, or maybe locally popular, others are simply neighborhood public spaces. As we sat and enjoyed caffé, a drink, pintxos or a full meal, we watched families stroll through, people stop and chat, a group of kids start a pick-up soccer game, neighbors sit together for a drink, a smoke, a discussion or argument. No giant advertisement video screens. No major brand, high-end stores. No (or few) chain stores. Local businesses.
By the way, in the nighttime photo, the group at the table in the center consists of: our grandson Jake and his partner Amanda visiting from L.A.; grandson Max and his partner Maddy who live in Bilbao, and Grandma Sherry. We had such good times together with our kids!
Perhaps I am romanticizing things, but honestly, I get the feeling that having these open spaces, these gathering spaces, in every neighborhood, is part of why I always feel people here are more relaxed, more social, more easy-going. It is an urban style very different from ours.
In Portland, as in most American cities, there is an effort by local government to have park spaces within a certain distance from every home. And this is terrific; I love our parks. And I don't see this in the older parts of European cities. But people don't gather in parks the way they do in a European plaza; they mostly gather for a picnic, to walk or exercise their dogs, or for a sport. The shops and restaurants are on the commercial streets, and everything is linear, with motorized traffic roaring past.
In 1984 the City of Portland built a one square block public square, Pioneer Courthouse Square, in the center of downtown. The City had owned the property since 1856; in 1884 they allowed a huge hotel to be built on it. The hotel was torn down in 1951 and a two-story parking lot was built. In 1969 a large parking structure was proposed for the site, but the Planning Commission rejected the proposal and called for a public square. And so "Portland's Living Room," as it is known, was built. It's a nice space, all red brick, a large flat area with sitting stairs on two sides, great for events. But it's not like a neighborhood European plaza, and isn't meant to be. The only place originally on the property to get food or drink is a Starbucks; now there are a few food carts. There are other places nearby. It is really a large central plaza where events can happen and people can gather, and that is really terrific.
Most cities in the United States will not have the kind of neighborhood plazas I'm writing about, and maybe they wouldn't work in our society. I don't know. What I do know is that I look forward to discovering and using these spaces every time I travel in Europe. Would it be different if I lived here? Maybe. But to me these are among the special places.
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posted by paul
* Note: I am always amused by the ironic names developers often give to their developments. Let's cut down an old orchard and call the new development "The Grove." A favorite is an upscale housing development near Portland where they cut down most of the Oregon ash trees and named the place "Ash Tree Downs." LOL! Who says developers have no sense of humor?
