Bringing Back America’s Town Squares

According to an article by Alan Ehrenhalt in Governing, the importance of public plazas as centers for social life, from ancient Mesopotamia to Portland, Oregon, is “impossible to dispute.” Yet, despite the continued popularity of places like Manhattan’s Washington Square, Jackson Square in New Orleans, or Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square, “We sometimes forget the importance of central squares in even the largest American cities.”

Ehrenhalt mentions several ambitious projects planned in small towns that hope to reinvigorate their stagnant public squares, such as a $100 million town square in Xenia, Ohio, whose original square was destroyed by a tornado. Ehrenhalt admits that projects like this may not go as planned, “But the mere fact that [they are] being discussed should count as an achievement,” Ehrenhalt writes.

In an age of constant virtual connection, Ehrenhalt asks, do we still need these physical spaces? “A number of urban planners have argued that we do need them, and that we can create them out of what might seem the least promising material.” According to David Gensler, “open space and town squares humanize and invigorate cities and are essential to the health and welfare of the people who live and work in them.” The lasting appeal of Jackson Square, Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square, and others signal that this continues to ring true.