Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Jamison Square gets a lot of things right, although I still don't know if it stacks up against European examples. It didn't really impress me when I visited a few weeks ago, it was just very sleepy. I clearly didn't visit at the peak time, but it was a beautiful clear Saturday afternoon with temps in the 60s. 
Sleepy isn't necessarily bad for an open space in a residential neighborhood, but it's not a good thing when you're holding that up as the best public space in your city. It's definitely not a bad urban space, and I like the modern site plan and the fact that the edges are sharply defined by buildings.
Piazza San Cosimato in Rome's Trastevere is a similar type space, it's in a midrise residential area and mostly off the beaten path for tourists, yet it felt much more lively than Jamison Square. Also unlike a lot of the more familiar Roman piazzas, San Cosimato has quite a few large, mature trees providing shade. |
I have to laugh at people citing Rome as an example of a city with lots of quiet, romantic piazzas.
Rome has some of the loudest, most obnoxious car and bus traffic I've ever seen. The major squares are dirty and busy. Sidewalks are narrow, cars and buses whizz by at 30 miles/hour.
Ironically, of the large European cities I've been to Barcelona had the best small scale plazas and piazzas by far, not any Italian city. Those octagonal squares really slow down the traffic and keep things civilized.