From The Atlantic — Nice Downtowns: How Did They Get That Way? "It wasn't easy"

JAMES FALLOWS I had anticipated some of the rewards and discoveries of visiting cities in the process of economic and cultural recovery and re-invention. An unexpected reward has been the chance to get a time-capsule view, a kind of real-life time-line diorama, of how the downtown areas of cities look through all the stages of a decline-and-rise cycle. The declining phase includes hollowing-out and pawn-shop-dominated decay. Then there is spotty and tentative improvement. Finally, if all goes well, full-scale health through a combination of stores, restaurants, theaters, downtown condos, and all the other elements of a region that attracts commercial and human activity through most hours of the night and day. Read more: Nice Downtowns: How Did They Get That Way? — The Atlantic

Encore: video: Maeklong Railway Market

Maeklong Railway Market I on 20110611 http://t.co/BJAEe4Isf5 HT @MikeKlassen http://t.co/j7eQ2JfquY

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) January 19, 2014

Rotterdam Markthal goes supersized in psychedelic ‪#‎marketplace‬ @guardian

Post by Nanaimo Commons.

"The Sidewalk Ballet" in Flinders Lane, Melbourne @PPS_Placemaking

Post by Project for Public Spaces.

Market Cities: #Barcelona offers a hopeful glimpse of the future via @PPS_Placemaking

Market Cities: #Barcelona offers a hopeful glimpse of the future http://t.co/nLCwKCTs9h via @PPS_Placemaking pic.twitter.com/rimSfUnwg1

— Barcelona (@barcelona_cat) May 4, 2014

From Sustainable Cities Collective —Flash Mobs and Private Spaces: Malls Are Not Public Spaces

With shopping malls freely banning some people from entering, the ugly truth became impossible to ignore: malls are not public spaces. Despite seeming to be exactly this, these private enterprises can bar anyone without committing the crime of discrimination.

"If the place to go for a walk and see people in a city is the mall, it is a sick city. In the best cities like Manhattan, Paris or Madrid, people go to public spaces. A city’s public space should compete with shopping malls on quality and security."  — Enrique Peñalosa

More at: Flash Mobs and Private Spaces | Sustainable Cities Collective

Many great public spaces have ebbs and flows. Like Nathan Philips Square, and it still works brilliantly, for every + special days. @lavrys
— jennifer keesmaat (@jen_keesmaat) March 1, 2014

— jennifer keesmaat (@jen_keesmaat) March 1, 2014

A city needs anchors. La Bocheria Barcelona: exuberant human interaction & commerce confirm centuries-old tradition pic.twitter.com/j7RLk14uoB

— Sprawl Repair (@SprawlRepairMnl) February 14, 2014

From Urban Land Magazine — Keeping an Urban Authenticity Alive: Vancouver's Granville Island

In the early 1970s, Ron Basford, a Canadian Cabinet minister and loyal Vancouverite, seized on the idea of converting Granville Island—a modestly sized pancake barely a half mile (0.8 km) south of the emerging downtown—into a special place. Until the mid—20th century, the island had prospered as an industrial hotbed, jammed with shipyards, metal fabricators, wire rope manufacturers, and warehouses. But with the shift in the post–World War II economy away from industrial production, tenants departed, leaving the island derelict and the remaining structures vulnerable to arson. Read more: Keeping an Urban Authenticity Alive: Vancouver's Granville Island - Urban Land Magazine

Jan Gehl says that #Vancouver's @granville_isle is the best example of all his principles of life between buildings. pic.twitter.com/cvkM09V39G
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) February 8, 2014

Post by The Sidewalk Ballet.

From Fund for a Better Waterfront — As Shopping Malls and Theme Parks ReplaceTown Squares, Our Democracy is Diminished

F Murphy photo

The street. It is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center. It is the primary place.
– William H. Whyte, City: Rediscovering the Center

Urban streets and sidewalks serve as the principle place of public contact and public passage. Streets, in fact, comprise the largest assemblage of public space in our cities. Every private lot is accessible from a street, the legally designated public right-of-way. When extended to the water’s edge, streets provide the very framework for public access to the waterfront. Streets are perceived as public. Our right to travel the street, whether by foot or bike or car, is indelibly etched in our consciousness. Read more: As shopping malls and theme parks replace town squares, our democracy is diminished | Fund for a Better Waterfront

Great Places in Canada — Public Space Winner: St. John City Market

The St. John City Market is a popular gathering space for people of all ages. It is a place where vendors sell a range of local and international goods along four banks of stalls running the entire length of the building. The Market is well integrated into the City Centre both in terms of its architecture, its entrances from the outdoors, as well as an indoor connection to the City pedway system. Read more: Great Places in Canada

Kensington Market - Pedestrian Sunday, September 29, 2013 (hint: turn down your volume ;) http://t.co/z2muNlDNuO via @youtube
— Kensington Market (@KensingtonMkt) September 30, 2013

Economist Todd Hirsch in The Globe — Fostering Public Spaces – Without Breaking the Bank

Ottawa’s Byward Market

It has been said that the reason people visit Paris isn’t because it’s easy to park downtown. They go because of the culture, the food, the history and the public spaces. Strip all that away and Paris goes from la belle ville to dullsville.

Perhaps Canada’s cities can’t compete with the history and architecture of Paris, London or New York, but they can compete with better attention to public space.

Update: Waterfront Pioneer Plaza Shipping Container Public Market

@1sidewalkballet awesome! 1. what is the surrounding neighborhood like: walk to the market? 2. see Seaside incubators ow.ly/lnTSp
— neil21 (@neil21) May 30, 2013

Thanks for asking @neil21! Thought I'd dedicate more than 140 characters to answer... The original post: A Proposal — A Recycled Shipping Container Public Market for Nanaimo's Pioneer Waterfront Plaza

This illustration of Census tract 0015.00 shows the plaza site (circled). And some demographics: Population 4,565 (Change since 2006 +5.5) Dwellings Total Private Households: 2590 Distribution by dwelling type Single Detached 26.4% Semi-detached 1.9% Row House 1.9% Duplex 6.9% Hi-rise Apt. 20.8% Low-rise Apt. 41.7% Single Attached 0.4% Population by gender Male 2,215 Female 2,355 Median age 48.9.

My Old City neighbourhood is well within a 15 minute walk to the plaza.

Walk time from the western edge of this tract to the plaza: 15 minutes. Adding the households to the north and south, I estimate the population in the catchment area within a 15-20 minute walk to be about 7500. 

And a google earth view looking west.

The plaza could and should be part of what our award winning Downtown Urban Design Plan and Guidelines calls for: "the development of an open space and pathway network throughout the downtown. Existing city owned lands and rights-of-way, combined with private property redevelopment, provide the opportunity for a coordinated park, pathway and open space plan…"  (But in Nanaimo this key public pathway on public land is a "driveway" reserved for "tenant parking":  Public Path Used as "Driveway" and "Tenant Parking" is Contrary to the Downtown Urban Design Plan, Diminishes The Integrity of the Heritage Restoration) And should seamlessly connect the waterfront to the downtown commercial district. Critically here: Repair the Square!

Currently there's one largish grocery store serving the city centre, any owner-operator bakery or butcher shop or small market have long since fled or become extinct. Seasonally cruise ships drop about 2500 well fed and slaked tourists into downtown Nanaimo for the day and the harbour is popular with boaters. Condo towers nearby and medium density low-rise along the water to the north which all connect to the plaza by a really quite spectacular waterfront promenade — have a stroll. To the south, Nanaimo's original, established neighbourhoods, the reserve lands of the Snuneymuxw First Nation and the newly city-acquired waterfront rail yards: City of Nanaimo to Purchase 26.7 Acre Downtown Waterfront Rail Yards

From Project for Public Spaces —Why Barcelona’s Markets Are “Super” Places

“Barcelona residents rank their public markets the second most valuable public service after libraries” F Murphy photo

When you think of the important places in the social life of your community, what comes to mind? Parks, squares, street corners, libraries, schools—these are common answers in many cities. They are the public spaces where we relax, where we meet friends, bump into neighbors; in short, the places that we all share. But there is another kind of commonly shared space that often goes unappreciated as a community hub in today’s convenience-oriented cities: the public markets where we buy our food. While markets were historically important threads of a city’s social fabric (indeed, for centuries they were housed right inside of many city halls), sanitation concerns and a cultural obsession with convenience led to their demise in many western cities starting in the 1950s. The “super” markets that replaced these vital public spaces were some of the first of what we now know as big box stores. Today, many millions of people around the world rely on these fluorescently beige, air conditioned megastores, where the goal is to get in, get your shopping done, and get out as quickly as possible. But in some cities, even in the developed world, traditional public markets still reign supreme! Read more: Project for Public Spaces | Food For Thought: Why Barcelona’s Markets Are “Super” Places

Want to create or enhance a farmer's market or public market in your city? Take a @pps_placemaking crash course... fb.me/Db6xcSKt
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) May 1, 2013

North Shore Green Markets — Transforming Communities

North Shore Green Markets is a set of markets that bring fresh food, products, entertainment, ideas and initiatives to North Vancouver residents to improve residents quality of life. Through the markets and it's programs we can transform communities block by block and empower all North Vancouver residents to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations. More at: Welcome to the North Shore Green Markets website

"#Markets need 4 elements: the right mix; sense of place; economic underpinnings; commitment to surrounding community." @pps_placemaking
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) April 12, 2013