Chris Carlsson at Streetsblog looks back at how people have used San Francisco's public space, from the hippie uprising of the 1960s to streetclosures and farmer's markets today.
"Starting several decades ago, San Franciscans began to reassert a public life, famously highlighted by the early San Francisco Mime Troupe getting arrested in 1965 for performing free in public parks (initially permitted, the Parks Commission revoked the Mime Troupe's permit when they disapproved of the play's content). The Mime Troupe's legal battles led the city to recognize a new notion of public commons with respect to its parks. This logic was extended further by the Diggers, an anarchic group that emerged from the Mime Troupe to make theater out of everyday life."
Read the full story: A Public Space Renaissance in San Francisco
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City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
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