As the quality of life continues to improve in the United States—notwithstanding the occasional economic eruption—the access to the waterfronts in our communities also improves.
Historically relegated to warehouses, dumps, and worse, as is so evident in our waterfronts in the downtown and midtown areas, especially along the American River, they are now seeing more attention and that mirrors what is going on nationally, as this article from Projects for Public Spaces notes.
An excerpt.
“We are seeing a dramatic rise of interest in waterfronts, as people everywhere seek great public spaces that can be enjoyed by the community as a whole. Eighteen months ago, PPS devoted an entire issue of our Making Places newsletter to waterfronts, showing their enormous potential for sparking city-wide revitalization.
“This resulted in a flurry of activity as groups from all over the world contacted PPS about how to apply the principles of Placemaking to seafronts, lakeshores, riverbanks and creeksides in their own towns. While the rediscovery of waterfronts is a welcome trend, we are finding through our fieldwork that many promising projects are being undermined by easily avoidable mistakes. Crucial knowledge about what works and does not work for waterfront is, unfortunately, not being shared among cities.
“This all-new Waterfronts edition of the PPS newsletter is devoted to showcasing lessons from around the world about how waterfronts can become great public assets for everyone to use.
“Dangers along the Waterfront
“Because waterfronts are being redeveloped so rapidly and at such a large scale, there is often not enough opportunity for the experimentation, evaluation, and information sharing that is crucial to the evolution of any great urban space. The result is that waterfronts in many cities are making the same mistakes over and over, particularly in limiting public use through misguided privatization schemes.
“Based on our vast experience, PPS believes that waterfronts are successfully revitalized through public-private partnerships that work together to create new opportunities for recreation, tourism and entertainment. If cities and community organizations collaborate with private developers to create a series of attractive destinations on and near the waterfront, the impact on the local economy will be greater than when these parties act in isolation.” (highlighting added)
