Midwest Urban Parks and Public Spaces

[srsmn]

[srsmn]

I really, really, really want to go to Indy some day....

[Cincinnatus]

Yeah, Indy also has very nice public spaces downtown! I love the military memorials.

[unvrsty07]

Yes we do, we simply need more apartment buildings around the War Memorial and we would have one helluva nice urban area!!

[EastSider]

Here's some more local joints in Milwaukee I like:

Third Ward Riverwalk (Retinal Fetish)
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Red Arrow Park Downtown (pear52)
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[nomarandlee]

Monument Circle and Campus Martius in particular look great.

[Nuclear_Art]

Originally Posted by EastSider

Here's some more local joints in Milwaukee I like:

Red Arrow Park Downtown (pear52)
image hosted on flickr

Red Arrow Park is a passable public space in spite of its many faults. It is poorly designed as it currently sits and could be a nice and more popular space if designed right. The previous incarnation was actually more comfortable than the way it is now designed. The rink is shoe-horned in very poorly which really hurts the space in the summer months. The landscaping is horrid for a public space.

The MGIC plaza next door, while not a public space is the best designed and comfortable plaza downtown. The public space with the most potential is MacArthur Square. With private development on the west side of the museum it could be the best place in the city.

[Lmichigan]

I really like the setting of Campus Martius in downtown Detroit. It's located where all of the metro's major "spoke" avenues meet:

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Spencer Olinek

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Dan Kirk

Some of the cons for me include that it feels very Disney-fied and too much is crammed into too small an area. There is nothing that really ties it together as a park, so I guess the location is the only fully redeeming thing about it.

[ajknee]

Great Urban Parks are the living rooms of the public. My absolute favorite is Fountain Square in Cincinnati.

Ice Skating on the Square:

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srhbth on Flickr

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jamie.clauss on Flickr

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bobbygoblin on Flickr

Ice Skating Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO3FSvmeQXA


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Chariot's Run on Flickr

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jd.cutter on Flickr

The large LCD Screen works great for community movies nights, and watching out-of-town games for the Reds and the Bengals.









Flower Carpet Time-Lapse Removal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr9eeoui5bQ

Splash Dance! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW58t...eature=related

There's a whole website of programming for the Square: www.MyFountainSquare.com

[Chadoh25]

Great photos of Fountain Square!

[Paule]

At one time the 400 block in downtown Wausau was the home of the Marathon County Courthouse. It was torn down in the 1950's for one story street front shops. 10 years ago those buildings were torn down and subsequently a park was born. Nothing special about, sidewalks criss-cross the center of it and a temporary band stage is on one end. During the Summer months concerts are held and are quite popular as hundreds of people will flock to the 400 Block with their blankets and lawn chairs to sit and enjoy the music. Just like they do in Cathedral Park in Milwaukee.

The city voted on making minor improvements to the park. Plaunting trees and some flower gardens along the edges and building a permanent band stage.

Here's the 400 block as it looks now.

From Flickr, by Partridge Road


From the Wikipedia website.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...u-400block.jpg




By Kdnystrom from Flickr






My own Pics

[ajknee]

For a city the size of Wausau, downtown is nothing short of amazing. Two indoor malls, an outdoor pedestrian scaled shopping street, a well programmed public square, and respectable theatre, an international kayaking course, a boutique hotel, a 210' tower, and a beautifully designed condo tower that is selling well. All this is a city of 38,000.

Thanks for the pics Paule.

[Paule]

Originally Posted by ajknee

For a city the size of Wausau, downtown is nothing short of amazing. Two indoor malls, an outdoor pedestrian scaled shopping street, a well programmed public square, and respectable theatre, an international kayaking course, a boutique hotel, a 210' tower, and a beautifully designed condo tower that is selling well. All this is a city of 38,000.

Thanks for the pics Paule.

Plus a world renown Arts museum, The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...umEntrance.jpg

And the annual Arts festival, the last pic of mine, was voted as the number 1 arts festival in the country over a year ago.

[GarfieldPark]

That link didn't tell me anything about the World reknowned Leigh Yawkey Woodson art museum. It had a picture of a stone house (or maybe that was the museum?). How do you classify something as World Reknowned? I've never heard of it.

[GarfieldPark]

Okay --- I googled it -- and read about the Birds in Art shows in September. Sounds nice.

[Paule]

LOL, yeah, I just linked a pic of the Museim itself. I also looked for a link to the article that named the Art festival the #1 in America for 2008 but the article is down now. It was actually a contest that a leading arts magazine put on where readers voted for the top arts festival. Sorry I couldn't be of much help on the info. Next time I'll think of linking the info with the post.
Here's the Museums website. http://www.lywam.org/
Renown can be either mean well known amongst most people or simply well known amongst a particular group of people. The museum is renown amongst artists, sorry I wasn't clear on that either.

[EastSider]

More for Milltown

Marquette Park (Public Enemies shot inside building)
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yahqqlogian

Riverwalk under Freeway
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porkchopexpress

[srsmn]

Just the first hits in google image search....

Rice Park, St. Paul:





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Mears Park, St. Paul:



Morrison Park, Minneapolis:



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Theo Wirth Park, Minneapolis/Golden Valley:





Victory Memorial Parkway, Minneapolis:

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Mill Ruins Park, Minneapolis:





One of my favorite "secret spots", the War Memorial on Mississippi Rd., St. Paul:

[hudkina]

Here are some from Detroit's suburban areas:

A public space in Birmingham:
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A downtown park in Rochester:
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Kellogg Park in Plymouth:
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A downtown Plaza in Northville:
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A riverwalk in Monroe:
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A triangle park in Dundee:
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[El Mariachi]

Originally Posted by ajknee

For a city the size of Wausau, downtown is nothing short of amazing. Two indoor malls, an outdoor pedestrian scaled shopping street, a well programmed public square, and respectable theatre, an international kayaking course, a boutique hotel, a 210' tower, and a beautifully designed condo tower that is selling well. All this is a city of 38,000.

Thanks for the pics Paule.

yeah, I agree. I have never been to Wausau, but I think I may have to take a drive up there sometime---it looks like a great town.