Principles of Great Civic Squares

1. The Inner Square & the Outer SquareFrederick Law Olmsted's vision of the "inner park" and the "outer park" is just as relevant today as it was 100 years ago. The streets and sidewalks around a square greatly affect its accessibility and use, as do the buildings that surround it. Imagine a square fronted on each side by 15-foot blank walls. Then imagine it next to a public library: the library doors open right onto the square; people sit outside and read on the steps; maybe the children's reading room has an outdoor space on the square, or even a bookstore and cafe. An active, welcoming outer square is essential to the well-being of the inner square.

2. Attractions and DestinationsAny great civic square has a variety of smaller "places" within it. These attractions can be anything - outdoor cafes, fountains, sculpture, an event. They don't need to be big to make the square a true destination. In fact, some of the best civic squares have numerous small attractions that, put together, draw people all through the day.

3. Traffic, Transit & the PedestrianTo be successful, a square needs to be easy to get to. The best squares in the world are always easily accessible by foot. The streets around them are narrow; the crosswalks are well marked; the lights are timed for pedestrians, not vehicles; the traffic moves slowly; and transit is nearby. On the other hand, a square surrounded by lanes of fast-moving traffic cuts the square off from pedestrians and deprives it of its essential element: people.

4. Flexibile DesignLike any good public space, the use of a square changes during the course of the day, week, and year. However, very few squares feature adaptable designs, and management can rarely handle these changes. Seasons are key. If we begin to think about which elements could be added to attract people during each season, we will have many more squares that are successful year-round.

5. Management: Central to the SolutionFluid, changing places are the ones that people return to time and time again. The only way to achieve this is by employing good managers who understand the pulse of the square. For example, they understand existing and potential users and gear events to both types of people. They are so familiar with the use patterns that waste receptacles get emptied at just the right time. Good managers create a feeling of comfort and safety in a square, fixing and maintaining it so that people have visible signs that someone is in charge.

6. Image and IdentityHistorically, squares were the focal points of communities, and they often gave identity to an entire city. The elements of squares made their cities unforgettable: think of the Trevie Fountain in Rome, or the Swann fountain in Philadelphia's Logan Circle, or the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park. Today, creating a square that becomes the most significant place in a city-that gives identity to the city-is a huge challenge, but meeting this challenge is absolutely necessary if the great civic squares are to return.Business leaders will head north May 28 to the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference on Mackinac Island with sharpened senses of urgency and purpose.

This year's conference, in its 28th year, turns the spotlight to both simmering and newly emerging concerns for Southeast Michigan businesses.

Yet like many of those issues, the reach of the event - the largest of its kind in Michigan - extends across the state.

With 1,700 of the state's most influential business, nonprofit and elected leaders registered, and enhanced efforts to involve businesses in shaping public policy, the conference can bridge collaboration among often competing sectors, organizers say.

POSSIBILITIESMichigan Business Review sees the potential for the Mackinac Policy Conference to define this state's priorities. And we buy into the need for it to drive change in our state.We'll staff the event and cover every aspect of it live at www.mlive.com/rebrandingmichigan.We're covering the conference as part of our Rebranding Michigan series because this yearlong package of stories is looking at drivers in the state that will define our future, as well as what exists in our state that isn't working.

It comes as the state scrambles to redefine its tag as a dying Rust Belt province plagued by political and labor strife and a single-state recession. It also comes on the heels of an announcement from the Economic Development Coalition of Southeast Michigan that the region saw $4 billion in new investments and jobs in 2007.

Dominating the four-day confab will be themes such as:

Attracting and retaining young talent.

Transportation and public transit projects.

Public policy.

Government leadership.

The conference will allow business leaders to grill the state's top lawmakers during one session, while other panels will bring leaders from cities like Minneapolis and Louisville, Ky., to discuss successful public-private partnerships and other innovate best practice ideas.

"I predict that this will be the most successful policy conference," said Jon Barfield, president and chairman of the Bartech Group, a Livonia-based talent acquisition and management firm with 3,700 employees. "We're at a point historically where we absolutely must improve or things will continue to unravel."

POLL POINTSHighlights from the Detroit Regional Chamber's poll of 200 business leaders:

The percentage of respondents who believe the state's business climate will be stronger in five years dropped to 66 percent from 74 percent a year ago.

Eighty-five percent said Southeast Michigan's economy is weaker than it was five years ago against 6 percent each who said it was stronger or about the same.

Fifty-eight percent believe Michigan's term limits law has been a failure against 12 percent who rate it a success, while 29 percent said partisan politics has limited the state's ability to transform its economy.

Four in 10 respondents said they would be willing to pay more for energy to build an alternative energy economy in Michigan vs. 35 percent who said they would not support higher energy prices and 25 percent who were uncertain.

Note: The poll was conducted by John Bailey & Associates Inc. and had a margin of error of 7 percentage points.

The image of the state and its major cities "is critically important to improve," Barfield added. "For people who have not grown up here and don't know what Michigan has to offer, we have serious work to do to rebrand the state and show the state as one that is robust and vibrant.

"We have to improve our brand promise, if you will, to show the outside world, which is looking for a place to relocate people and relocate operations, that Michigan is ready to do business with them in traditional and non-traditional ways."

Coming during a presidential election year, with scores of state and federal legislative seats and high-profile statewide ballot issues up for grabs, politics and policy will compete for center stage as Michigan looks to make up for lost clout in Washington.

Chamber officials have extended invitations to both presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, the likely Democratic nominee. (The chamber has "reached out" to Sen. Hillary Clinton in the past but has more recently focused on Obama as the likely pick, said Leslie Murphy, the chair of this year's conference.)

The presence of embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who faces perjury and several other felony counts related to testimony he gave in a police whistle-blower lawsuit, will also compete for media attention. Chamber officials say that while the mayor and his staff are registered to attend, they expect him to remain focused on conference business.

"I do believe that everybody will stay focused on the issues," Murphy said.

New for this year was the chamber's use of polling results from member businesses conducted in January to directly shape this year's agenda. The chamber also plans to set up terminals at the conference asking attendees to rank their highest priorities for action.

The results of that voting will be announced May 28 during the conference.

"I think that's really the most significant change is that we're going to walk away with more of a playbook of what we're going to get to work on as we leave the island," said Tammy Carnrike, the chamber's COO. "Where we're spending our time is really where the business community feels we can have an impact."

The chamber plans a greater incorporation of technology into the conference through use of electronic voting and mapping technologies to help tell stories, Carnrike said. It will also announce details of a statewide project linking universities and internships as a strategy to retain more young talent, she said.

Participants will also hear an update on the One D initiative from Edsel B. Ford II, who will present a scorecard of the group's progress in areas including economic prosperity, education and public transit.

"We're making strides in all those areas but the reality is we have a long way to go," said One D Director Kathleen Owsley. "...This is not just a problem for those six (member) organizations and their staff, we have to get behind this for the health of this region. We're not only competing nationally, we're competing globally."

Another new feature will be the involvement of roughly 50 young professionals, whom the chamber is busing to the island and whom will have their own separate track on the conference's final day.

The young professionals want a greater voice in legislative debate, advocacy and economic development, Carnrike said. They also are advancing analysis of quality of life issues.

"Every community thinks it has quality of life, but our young professionals really challenge us on that and really do want to talk about mixed-use planning... (and) what our arts policy is going to be in the future," she said. "It's really very impressive to see their commitment and their interest in building a stronger environment."

Chamber and conference officials also stress the efforts being committed to ensuring action follows words.

"This is an opportunity for all of us to come together and look at political and policy reforms that will help build a stronger Michigan," Murphy said. "And if ever we needed that, we need it now. And we need all of us working together on those solutions."

Large cities across the United States have recognized and experienced the significant regenerative value that high quality public spaces and urban parks have on the revitalization of their core downtown districts. Efforts are underway in most major cities to create what Europeans have for centuries celebrated - the piazza, or central square. Located at the heart of downtown, directly in front of the new Compuware Headquarters, Campus Marius Park is strategically poised to be a significant and contributing factor to the rebirth of downtown Detroit. Campus Martius Park's unique and central location on Detroit's main street - Woodward Avenue - provides the critical foundation from which real revitalization can take hold, connect, and spread to other downtown activity centers.The opening of Compuware Headquarters and Campus Martius Park has dramatically transformed Detroit's Main Street - Woodward Avenue. Future development of the Kennedy Square and Monroe Blocks will provide a critical mass of unique and active ground floor retail and attractions around the perimeter of the park. Year-round, high quality programming in this spectacular public garden and civic space is a catalyst to create these important storefront attractions.Wikipedia says: Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for Field of Mars, where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of judge Augustus Woodward's plans to rebuild the city.

Also from Wikipedia: The new Campus Martius Park was dedicated on November 19, 2004. It includes two stages, sculptures, public spaces and a seasonal ice skating rink.

More: Compuware World Headquarters (above), located at One Campus Martius, was constructed in 2000 and finished in 2003. The high-rise is used as an office building, a restaurant, retail space for Compuware, and has a fitness center inside, as well as an atrium. It's constructed in the late-modernist architectural style, using glass, granite, and limestone as its main materials.

Campus Martius Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, searchCampus Martius Park

Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Campus Martius

TypeMunicipal (City of Detroit)

LocationDetroit

Coordinates421953N 83248W / 42.33139N 83.04667W / 42.33139; -83.04667

Size1.2acres (4,900m2)

Opened1850; 2004

StatusOpen all year

Cadillac Square Park

Bagley Memorial Fountain on Cadillac Square facing Campus Martius.

TypeMunicipal (City of Detroit)

LocationDetroit

Coordinates421953N 83248W / 42.33139N 83.04667W / 42.33139; -83.04667

Opened2007

StatusOpen all year

Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for Field of Mars, where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of judge Augustus Woodward's plans to rebuild the city.[1] It is where the "point of origin" of Detroit's coordinate system is located. Seven miles (11 km) north of this point is 7 Mile Road; eight miles (13 km) north is 8 Mile Road, and so on. The precise point of origin is marked by a medallion[2] embedded in the stone walkway. It is situated in the eastern point of the diamond surrounding the Woodward Fountain [3], just in front of the Au Bon Pain store.

Campus Martius in 1907.

Campus Martius.

The park is located at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue. The original park covered several acres and was a major gathering area for citizens. The park was lost in the 1900s as the city's downtown was reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic. Hart Plaza, along the riverfront, was designed to replace Campus Martius as a point of importance. But as Hart Plaza is a primarily hard-surfaced area, many residents came to lament the lack of true park space in the city's downtown area. This led to calls to rebuild Campus Martius, the site of the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the American Civil War located across from the new Compuware Headquarters. Grand Circus Park is on Woodward Avenue, down the street from Campus Martius Park.

The new Campus Martius Park was dedicated on November 19, 2004. It includes two stages, sculptures, public spaces and a seasonal ice skating rink. At 1.2acres (4,900m2), the park is smaller than its predecessor, as a full restoration of the original would have required the demolition of several buildings. However, the city increased the amount of park space in the area by constructing the new Cadillac Square Park immediately to the east of Campus Martius. Cadillac Square Park opened in the summer of 2007.

The park's skating rink is designed to resemble the one at Rockefeller Center in New York City and is actually larger in size than the Rockefeller rink. Campus Martius Park is the home of the annual Motown Winter Blast, an event that draws 450,000+ people to the downtown area every year. One of the newly most beloved events in Metro-Detroit is the annual tree lighting celebration that is held around Thanksgiving time every year. Thousands come out to hear Holiday music and countdown to the tree lighting up for the start of the holiday season.

Free Wireless for the Waterfront Please

Development in Toronto, Ideas, Urban Design, Whimsicality

Map: Free Wifi Zone in Montreal's Old Port

I hope WaterfronToronto is paying attention - heres a map of the free wifi zone (via sponsors) at the waterfront in Montreals Old Port (source). The zone was set up for and is under the jurisdiction of Les Quais du Vieux-Port (The Quays of the Old Port) - a 47.3-hectare (117-acre) territory with 2.7 kilometres of St Lawrence River waterfront - which is itself an entity created and managed by the federal agency in control of the entire Old Port, Socit du Vieux-Port de Montral (Old Port of Montreal Corporation).

Photo: Panorama of Montreal's Old Port

Apparently Telus is the sponsor responsible for providing the actual wifi service, with other sponsors covering the costs. While some of us might prefer that something like Wireless Toronto (a volunteer-run not-for-profit community group dedicated to setting up free wifi hotspots around the city) were the ones running something like this, the size of Montreals wifi zone would probably be too infrastructurally complicated and expensive for a small group like Wireless Toronto. Wireless Toronto have set up one of their hotspots at York Quay at Harbourfront Centre, though its fairly geographically limited. One of the most interesting aspects of Montreals zone is how the two marina areas are deliberately included allowing wifi access from moored boats! Toronto Hydros One Zone wireless network (which covers most of the downtown area) is not free and does not currently cover any part of the waterfront, and I think its the wrong model to pursue for the waterfront. I think free wifi on the waterfront would be a great way to encourage waterfront users of all kinds, and would be the kind of forward-looking optimistic project we really need to kick off the idea of the waterfront revitalization.

Photo: Old Port of Montreal from the air

However, we should be a little careful when we look at the Montreal model - the Old Port area controlled by the Corporation is federal land, but being owned and operated by the Corporation actually means it is not technically public space. There are in fact a list of site rules, buskers and other entertainers are auditioned and require permits (as with many other tourist areas), leafletting and soliciting are not allowed, activities may not be held or promoted on the site without permission and filming or photography for other than personal use must be authorized. These are dangerous precedents for Torontos waterfront - while this post has mostly been about free wifi, I think the principle of freedom needs to additionally extend to the use of public space at the waterfront.

February 28th, 2009 by admin | 0

Construction is moving along at Waterfront Toronto. The wavedecks Rees and Simcoe, which will open this summer, will provide unique gateways to the waterfront of Toronto and will create more publicly accessible spaces. Over the next few weeks, construction activities will include H-pile installation on the north wall at the Simcoe Slip and fish habitat installation at Rees Slip.

The two new wavedecks are part of a series of five. The first one, Spadina wavedeck, was opened in September 2008. The wavedecks are part of the first phase of implementation of a strategic masterplan for the Toronto Central Waterfront prepared by West 8 + DTAH, see also:

Just completed the artificial forest at the Creative Design Studio for Nissan in Detroit, and will complete construction, next Spring, of the urban beach on the Toronto Waterfront (in collaboration with Janet Rosenberg + Associates and Hariri Pontarini architects). Working on the public landscape of the new Four Seasons Hotel, downtown Toronto, Ilot Voyageur Universit du Quebec Montreal a new high end residential tower on 300 Front Street, Toronto and Evergreen at the Brickworks in Toronto.

Toronto Waterfront.

Waterfront Toronto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, searchWaterfront Toronto, also known as WATERFRONToronto is an organization administering the revitalization of the Toronto waterfront. Formed as a partnership of three levels of Canadian government in 2001, the organization is administering the redevelopment of several blocks of land surrounding Toronto Harbour and various initiatives to promote the revitalization of the area, including public transit, housing developments, brownfield rehabilitation, possible removal of the Gardiner Expressway in the area, recreational trails and lakeshore improvements and naturalization of the Don River. Actual development of the projects is done by other agencies, primarily private corporations.

Grenadier Landing

Address: 5 Marine Parade Dr. (GRENADIER LANDING) Etobicoke ON M8V 4B4 Canada

BUILDING DESCRIPTION: Located in west Toronto on the waterfront, by the beach, Grenadier Landing is destined to become Torontos most exciting new waterfront address. Stunning glass walled condominiums and waterfront townhomes, overlooking the park, the beach, the lake and the city. Suites from 640 sq. ft. up to 1,580 sq. ft., with terraces or balconies and soaring nine foot ceilings.

Download printable flyer Building Features: Striking 12-storey residence overlooking parkland and the shore of Lake Ontario.

Two-storey grand lobby with access to beautifully landscaped courtyard.

24-hour concierge.

Elegant party room with access into landscaped courtyard.

Casual lounge areas adjacent to lobby.

Amenities include hobby/craft room, games room with ping pong/billiards table and a fully equipped video/media room with large screen TV.

Fully equipped exercise room with lockers.

Ample underground visitor parking.

Convenient guest suite with balcony.

BBQ in landscaped courtyard.

Steps to waterfront bicycle paths linking to the Martin Goodman Trail, as well as the 300 km Ontario Greenway Waterfront Trail.

Access, Security and Building Communications: In-suite coded security system.

Suite security system calls 24 hour concierge.

Enterphone system allowing direct access to suites.

Fully secured building with closed circuit TV and security card readers throughout building.

Building pre-wired with fibre optic backbone, allowing for future enhancement of data/phone/internet services.

Building suites wired with category 5 data cable, allowing high speed voice/data output of up to 100 Megabits per second.

Provisions for digital/satellite TV.

7. Toronto, Canada Toronto is a meeting place, a crossroads of many cultures and ethnicities. Toronto is downtown Canada, the biggest city in the country with a skyline to match. Toronto has 7 structures in its skyline that stand at over 200 metres, including the astonishingly tall 553 metres, CN Tower, which is often referred to as the tallest freestanding structure in the world. While mostly untrue (because there are taller TV masts in the world), the CN Tower possesses the worlds highest observation deck, making this citys skyline one of the most immediately identifiable. Metro/Urban Population: 5.1 million

Toronto, Canada