#10 is number one in my book. I found Gehl's book most enlightening. Giving developers extra height for providing "public" spaces, and then allowing those spaces to be unavailable to the public defeats the purpose.

These formulaic approaches tend to simplify the design process. Christopher Alexander's 'A Pattern Language' attempts to define similar 'amenities' that cultivate spaces to supposedly enrich our lives. They are a good start, but hardly a checklist to ensure elegant solutions.

I agree with jeffro above, there is no formula that will provide magical open space but Alexander's work from the 60's is a fine step in the right direction. And the basis of his work was very simple- observing what people actually do in the spaces they use (as did William Whyte to fine effect), and design to enhance those patterns of behavior. This article is okay as far as it goes, but Crosscut should be publishing more articles about the specifics right here in River City. The problem Seattle has is that the planners here don't actually plan for public spaces but instead seem to work for the developers. As long as the large developers here like Paul Allen continue to guide what happens in the city, check lists like these are meaningless, exercises in futility. In our 'progressive' city, our 'public' spaces are actually predetermined for the most part by those who own the buildings adjoining them. This is not what should be happening, but time and again for many decades, its been the case. Until the process actually takes the power from private property owners to make planning decisions, we won't have public spaces for the public. Seattle's downtown is strong visual evidence of the 1% vs the 99%- what's really odd is that our 'progressive' population doesn't seem to understand that it really could be different. Most European cities, many in Central and South America have had actual public spaces for the public for centuries, and have expected the 1% to contribute strongly to their making. We have almost none of that tradition here.

There's only one public space in Seattle that really works; the Public Market. it works because participants can be out of the rain on rainy days or out in the sun on sunny days. Out of town Urban Planners fail to consider the impact of rain on public spaces and invariably develop a space that is little used by the general public, often by by default taken over by drug dealers, inebriates and homeless. Civic Quality of Life disappears quickly when public spaces are no longer public but instead ruled by street toughs. Civility is key and having a group of stakeholders like food cart operators, arts and craft vendors, bicyclists, exercise buffs, etc keep the street crime crews at bay. So any solution must have a commercial component if its downtown. The stakeholders keep an eye on things, clean up, take pride in their surroundings. And they report to the City.

That said it is also possible to recycle existing spaces. For example a Ramblas walkway like the one in Barcelona could be created by using the cement supports of the monorail to anchor a flowing fixed awning that would protect walkers from the rain. An awning stretching across one lane of traffic and covering the sidewalk would create a vital pedestrian connection between the Seattle Center and Westlake mall. The area could fill with food carts and peddlers. East West vehicle traffic would be maintained. The Western lane of 5th Ave traffic would be converted to pedestrian use except for drop offs, load and unload etc. If we can implement a pedestrian ring that connects Downtown to Chinatown to Pioneer Square to the Waterfront to Seattle Center to Westlake we will have made Seattle walkable and have left the Pike Place Public Market as the heartbeat of the ring. All very doable at any budget. I mean really is there anything less expensive than connecting existing pedestrian uses with signage and information?! With the Waterfront being re-developed now is the time to use the public process to widen the vision, to bring home a greater Seattle with a bigger vision.

A great place on Capitol Hill for a permanent car-free zone would be on East Pike Street from Broadway going east for two blocks to 11th Avenue. It would boost the restaurant and nightlife businesses in the area. Those two blocks are already closed off periodically during the annual Capitol Hill Block party and Pride weekend. It’s time to make that closure year-round and possibly extend it to half of each block of 10th Avenue on each side of Pike.

I hope it is o.k. to share this video - a wonderful (albeit 60 minutes long) research project on public space that works vs. doesn't work.

http://www.swiss-miss.com/2012/03/the-social-life-of-small-urban-spaces.html?utm_source=swissmiss&utm;_medium=email&utm;_campaign=71f904c888-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

You know what makes a good public space...people.

The places that people naturally gather and do human activities are the best...no matter the "design".

For me, although not strictly public...I think that Southcenter Mall is probably one of the best spaces in this region. It is well used...incredibly so. It has the best of shopping, eating and entertainment. It offers a restful food court and also the exercise of walking. It's indoors, but it has "sidewalk" cafes. It has atriums inside with skylights.

Most of all it makes recognition of life in the 21st century. We are people of commerce. We are not people who go to granite steps and lounge around looking at clouds. We like to do things. We like to buy stuff.

The exclusion of the mall design from any of the academic planners and designers constantly chafes me. People walk in malls. They are protected from weather. Yet, the party line is always about "cars". I walk quite a lot in suburbs. I bike from Kent to Southcenter using the Green River Trail and yes there are bike racks there.

"Southcenter Mall ... offers a restful food court and also the exercise of walking."

Yes, but how many of the people exercising by walking at Southcenter go there other than by automobile? More than 1 or 2% you think?

The mall design could work well in the Downtown Transit Tunnel. Those stations are just huge wastes of space that you just want to get out of as fast as you can. Fill them up with bars, restaurants, and shops like every other city in the world. Instant successful public space.

Southcenter mall just gives me an instant migraine, but maybe some people like it.

I haven't seen the spaces described in the article but how do they differ from a street?
Can routes be spaces? well sure. Like many other people I use Seattle Center as a walkway and it's function as an event destination is probably only slightly more utilized, maybe less than an order of magnitude. University Way is a space. Broadway, Queen Anne Avenue. Harbor Steps is a walkway, also a place. Greenwood Avenue North becomes a glorious space when the auto show is going on.