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Experts say rethinking ways to get more people into park is more important than redesigning it
While Ann Arbor city officials begin to consider a redesign of Liberty Plaza, experts point to the areas outside the park boundaries as catalysts for the plaza's improvement. While the changes may bring some improvements, experts believe the areas right around the park play a bigger role in any future improvement.
Amy Kuras, the city park planner, said the development around any urban space is what determines the success or failure of the space. Kuras said the immediate area around Liberty Plaza the Liberty Square building and the Kempf House is not a foot traffic generator. Whether the new underground Library Lot, and whatever development eventually is built atop it,longchamp sac, changes the number of pedestrians at the corner remains to be seen.
Without establishments bringing in different groups of people, Liberty Plaza becomes a spot with a crowd of regulars who may not look kindly on outsiders,nike tn pas cher, according to Kuras.
would love to see it used more by all kinds of people, Kuras said. we arrive at that, I not sure what the answer is at this point. It not just changing the configuration of the park. compared Liberty Plaza to ,jordan shoes, another concrete plaza at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Catherine Street. She said one of the reasons Sculpture Plaza has become a successful and popular area is because of the restaurants and shops that draw customers who utilize the space.
Kirk Westphal, an Ann Arbor documentarian who studied the city from a pedestrian point of view for a master degree in urban planning, said Sculpture Plaza is the situation thanks to the businesses surrounding it.
Liberty Plaza has what Westphal calls a ingredient to success: Foot traffic along Liberty Street. However,christian louboutin sale, there are not enough people actually going into the plaza.
urban space that lacks foot traffic through it can be problematic, and the key is getting a diversity of users,longchamp pas cher, Westphal said. not about keeping unemployed people out, it about making sure there are enough people in total using the space. the park was completed in 1978, there was a restaurant in the 330 E. Liberty St. building next door, along with a book store in the bottom floor. Kuras said this brought more foot traffic into the plaza,sac longchamp, but there were still problems from the start.
Some stemmed from the park's design it's set below street level with bushes around the outside, allowing it to be more secluded than other downtown areas.
Westphal noted there a strong sense of community among regular park users. However, that sense of community among regulars can sometimes lead to a hostile attitude toward people who are not regularly coming to Liberty Plaza. He remembered a time during his graduate studies when he was filming Liberty Plaza for a video and was accosted within five minutes with questions about who he was, why he was filming the park and other general harassment.
That hostility from regulars can lead to equal hostility from community members who don regularly use the park,air jordan 5.
Calls for a bigger police presence in the park have gotten louder recently, but Westphal said the fact police officers are needed in the plaza more than other areas is a sign of a failed space.
solution isn more police,christian louboutin outlet, it fixing the space, he said.
not convinced if a police officer was stationed there permanently that it would be a well used park, he added. where does that leave us? at least one business owner in the area immediately around Liberty Plaza who wants to be a part of the solution.
Adam Baru, owner of Mani Osteria at 341 E. Liberty St.,longchamps pliage, said he noticed Liberty Plaza getting worse since his restaurant opened in May 2011. Guests often comment on the area and brawls can sometimes be visible from the windows facing the plaza, he said.
gets to the point where it in our mind, out of control,chaussures Louboutin femmes pas cher, Baru said.
Baru said he would love to set up a coffee cart or a food cart in Liberty Plaza, seeing those ideas as a way to bring a more diverse group of people to the area. He pointed toward the Bank of Ann Arbor Sonic Lunch program on Thursdays in the summer as an example of how Liberty Plaza can be used in a positive way.
would love to be over there with a coffee cart or a small,sac longchamps, little restaurant outpost that would cause people to sit and socialize, he said, use it as an urban park as it intended to be used, instead of just a gathering spot for illicit activities. programming is a challenge in and of itself, according to Kuras.
She said many parks have their programming organically ingrained into them, causing those parks to be used frequently. She cited dog parks or community gardens as examples.
While the Sonic Lunch program is great, it only takes up one hour per day during 12 days in one season, she said.
someone came in with the sole job of programming the park on a daily basis, the best uses in parks are things like dog parks and community gardens where you don actively have to put on a program to get people to use it, she said.
I was hiking in the woods of northern michigan this weekend. I came upon a boarded up cabin, on a nice little pond. It was really very nice and quite picturesque. Until I noticed discarded syringes on the ground. Apparently someone had been shooting up. It was a shocking and nasty discovery that completely ruined the scene.
Was the cabin worse than Liberty Plaza? Arguably,Louboutin pas cher femme, yes. But it is a reminder that these problems are everywhere. So, maybe people sitting around in a park, some drinking out of bagged bottles, isn such a big deal.
I conflicted on how I feel for this park. I too have seen the obviously chemically altered states of its regular users. I have heard the profanties, and seen the bags that carry all (or most) of what the regulars own.
However, I have also made a point to eat lunch there, or read a book, and actually pay attention to what was happening. I seen people shout sometimes, but never witnessed a fight (though I don doubt they happen). I occassionally been asked for money, but after they learned I wasn an easy mark they stopped. I have never been physically threatened, and have never seen anything more illegal than sneaking illicit alcohol drinks (though again I don doubt more sometimes happens).
I have seen the people (many are not homeless) talking about their days, and their relationships. I have seen them playing chess, and been asked once if I want to play. I have seen them converse, eat, look at computers, and read. Sometimes they shout, but generally at eachother. Sometimes they look like they are about to fight, but then slap each other on the back.
And then I think: How am I different from them? I am loitering in the park too. That what parks are for. I do feel uncomfortable if surrouned by people but should I? Maybe, but they have the right to be there too. I think the best option might be to enforce a ban on begging in the park, and to be more vigilant at arresting obviously intoxicated and disruptive people. If we do that, it could make it a better place.????????
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"They've got more style than any group we've ever had."Many came into the competition looking good. But that doesn't mean they can escape getting pointers from the show's stylists some more than others.Nadia Turner, Jackson says, is this season's strongest example of a style maven who needs little help.
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