L.A.'s Public Squares Leave Much To Be Desired

"When is a public square not a public square? When it's designed and built in Los Angeles, circa 2008. Our city--which has lacked plazas and other open-air gathering spots for so long--is now building them in a number of high-profile locations. Yet none of these spaces is fully civic in the traditional City Beautiful sense. Each one is shaped, controlled or compromised by private, commercial or other interests. Arguably, of course, that makes them right at home in Los Angeles, the most private metropolis ever devised."

"There are a number of reasons for this plaza creep. For one, the city's planning department, under Gail Goldberg, is taking a more active role in persuading architects and developers to open their projects to the streetscape. Rising density and a growing population are making L.A. a place where people want to get out of their cars. At the same time, simple demand for space has made private gardens--once a hallmark of middle-class life in Los Angeles--a rare and expensive commodity. One result of all those forces flowing together simultaneously is that, for the first time in the city's history, a vocal constituency for open space is emerging in L.A. Still, this outbreak of plazas is happening at a time when city governments around the country lack both the money and the political will to develop purely public space. L.A.'s new plazas are certainly emblematic of that weakness."