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zman  ·  4103 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Great Public Spaces

One big problem that has happened in my city is the type of crowd that has become attracted to these public spaces. My town has a very nice historic downtown that has a waterfront and many areas to walk and shop. Over the past 10 or 20 years though the area has seen a massive rise in the amount of bars, sleazy clubs, and tattoo parlors. Thanks to this near every time I go downtown it is mainly occupied by drunks and street crawlers making the area unsafe.

Public spaces tend to breed conditions like this and limitations on what kind and the number of shops could help to promote positive, welcoming environments for people to visit. Imagine if 5 or 6 bars popped up in a mall, who would go there?