It (neighborhood parks) is a creature of its surroundings and of the way its surroundings generate mutual support from diverse uses, or fail to generate such support. — Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
In the chapter “The uses of neighborhood parks”, Jacobs uses the example of 4 squares in Philadelphia: Rittenhouse Square- the beloved much-used park, Franklin Square (Skid Row park), Washington Square – the pervert park, and Logan Circle- no longer a park.
“Skid Row” park reminds me of People’s Park,
…where the homeless, the unemployed and the people of indigent leisure gather … This park and its users are both seedy, but it is not a dangerous or crime park. Nevertheless, it has hardly worked as an anchor to real estate values or to social stability…
It is true that there are cultural and political significance behind the creation of the People’s Park, but Wikipedia paints a rosy picture of the Park. Its role as a “sanctuary for the for Berkeley’s large homeless population” (Wikipedia) has effectively during most of the time excluded other potential users. To me is an area to be avoided at all cost after dark. While it is only a few blocks away from the main campus, it is rarely used by students. (On a side note, the title is inspired by a Yelp review on people’s park — I am a grown man and a bit intimidating myself and I don’t like to even walk by this place. This is not a “People’s Park”. It’s “Those People’s Park” and they let you know it.)
Why is People’s Park unpopular with the majority of the population?
Following Jacobs’ method I examined the surrounding land use of the People’s Park: Vedanta Society Church, First Church of Christ Scientist, First Baptist Church Berkeley, apartments buildings, Bongo Burger, Remy’s Mexican Restaurant, a vacant and deserted lot, parking lot of Anna Head Alumnae Hall. It is not hard to notice that the land uses are far from diverse and thus can only generate potential inflow of park users at a certain time of day, in certain days of the week. Also, there seems to be too much shade at the east park of the park, and the path through it is not clearly defined.
Now, what happened to Franklin Square since Jacob’s time? Will the following also be the fate of People’s Park? Or is there a way to revitalize the area without commercializing it?
The strategy of the city is to privatize the Park into a playground with limited open hours. The following quotes from newspaper and website effectively illustrates this.
Those we now call “street people” or “the homeless” were falling like flies on Skid Row. – Dec.24, 1997, The Inquirer
…Franklin Square, a forsaken public space brought back to life with a variety of commercial activities, including a burger shack.- May 21, 2010, The Inquirer
Image@ the Franklin Square’s facebook page.
Halina Dziewolska remembers the old Franklin Square. “There was pretty much nothing here,” said Dziewolska, 43, of Queen Village, a native Pole who moved to Philadelphia 16 years ago. “Well, the trees were here. And the homeless people.” The fact Dziewolska was speaking Thursday as she pushed her 3-year-old daughter Marisha on a playground swing is a sign of the square’s transformation. — July 28, 2008, The Inquirer
Franklin Square is one of Philadelphia’s five original squares. Yahoo.com recently ranked Franklin Square in the top five playgrounds in the United States. Centered around its beautiful fountain, Franklin Square also features thePhiladelphia Park Liberty Carousel, a miniature golf course, and the renouned SquareBurger.–historicphiladelphia.org
Jacobs talked about creating “demand goods” out of parks that cannot be supported by uses arising from natural, nearby intense diversity. Such “demand goods”, Jacob observed, could be swimming, music, carnivals, concerts.
Thus, can People’s Park be revived by becoming settings for specialized events? Maybe by moving the popular “OFF THE GRID” food trucks inside the park instead of just down the street next to the Park. Or Perhaps, the university’s drama or dance department can utilise the space for performances.
OFF THE GRID view from near the west end of people’s park
Architecture Notes 