Reflection on Returning to the Public Realm
June 17, 2020
WRITTEN BY TOM NALLY, SENIOR ADVISOR
As more businesses are reopening and we move through Massachusetts “Phase Two,” people continue to seek to return to the public realm. Some of the motivations are evolving as we pass through different stages of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but what seems most stable is the desire to be with other people. That need should be tempered with a recognition that we must respect the unchanging dictates of the virus and what we need to do to remain safe.
We have seen poor examples of people seeking the enjoyment of open space and the public realm on the beaches of Florida in March and the lakes of Missouri last month. And we see the consequences of this behavior. But we also have examples that can serve as a model for the next steps and the future.
THE “BIG YELLOW TAXI” EFFECT
We may currently be experiencing the “Big Yellow Taxi” effect: “…we only really appreciate the full value of public space when it has been taken away from us,” according to Phil Myrick, CEO of Project for Public Spaces, who continues saying that in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we face both an economic recession and a social recession and “…this is why public space must play a key role as we recover from this pandemic.”
As we think about recovery, we need to distinguish between a transition period (pre-vaccine) and the longer-term when “social distancing” will no longer be necessary. There are essentially three stages of the recovery process:
- The immediate or near term period, when individuals and families need to leave their residences to get some “fresh air,” but are not able to socially interact significantly in elements of the public realm due to the need to maintain physical distancing to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. This corresponds to the earliest period or Massachusetts Phase One.
- Transition to the temporary “New Normal,” or Massachusetts Phases Two and Three on the downslope of “the curve” but before a vaccine is available, when the less vulnerable of the population while practicing physical distancing, will be able to venture into the public realm, interact with others, and once again begin to enjoy the benefits of open space and indoor public spaces where effective social distancing practices can be successful. If the prospect of herd immunity and effective therapeutics become possible, then more public spaces can safely become more accessible to more of the population sooner.
- Finally, a “Next Normal,” or Massachusetts Phase Four and beyond can be realized after an effective vaccine becomes available and is in widespread use by the general population. When the safety of the public from this infection is not an issue, and even the most vulnerable are free to venture into the public realm, then we will be able to restore the enjoyment of the public realm. We will then need to prepare for future infectious diseases.
Planning for future infectious diseases, and perhaps thinking about how to implement physical distancing if necessary, will need to be an ongoing activity. At this point, the only certainty is that cities and the public realm will survive, but in what form.
If we seek to practice physical distancing as a defense against infectious diseases in the future, buildings and other gathering places for assembly of people may need to be much larger and more expensive. There may be a lack of vitality if crowds are thinner on sidewalks, and in parks, music halls, and sports venues. Crowds will need to be somehow limited in number and density.
It is entirely likely that this spread-thin environment is not sustainable with our current built environment. Who will want to attend a Fenway Park with a maximum capacity of less than half its current number? How will The Wave make it past right field?
At a larger scale, if we spread out more and lose dense clustering, the positive externalities of that clustering may be dissipated and the benefits of chance face to face encounter on the sidewalks beloved by so many planners and economists could be lost.
THE FIRST FEW MONTHS: PEOPLE WANTED TO GET OUT
In order to create more space to support physical distancing and reduce potential crowding, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has closed streets and parkways for vehicles and opened them for pedestrians and cyclists. These parkways include Day Boulevard in South Boston, Francis Parkman Drive in Jamaica Plain along the shore of Jamaica Pond, and Greenough Boulevard in Watertown along the Charles River. In addition, the narrow sidewalk in Coolidge Corner adjacent to Trader Joes has been widened into Beacon Street to provide more space for distancing.
THE NEXT STEPS: BETTER USE OF THE PUBLIC REALM
Because of the social practices dictated by the need to avoid non-essential contacts, access by the public to parts of the public realm has been eliminated or severely limited. These “Third Places” for gatherings that are not home or workplaces include neighborhood bars or social clubs, coffee houses, restaurants, or sports venues. Columnist Mike Barnacle has famously called Fenway Park “my second home,” and many of us might share that view. Those places and the activities in them that draw people to them are closed or dormant, and for now, we have been left with the confines of our homes or a walk around the block, where we may encounter a friendly neighbor, but no closer than two arms lengths away.
Before we can safely and comfortably venture into the indoor Third Places, we may need to create some additional outdoor places as an interim step. Restaurants struggling to survive and their customers yearning for a special meal will be able to find an outdoor café as a reasonable next step.
The City of Boston has been repurposing parking and travel lanes to accommodate more bike lanes and to calm traffic on local streets, and on these quieter streets, the City is advancing the public realm guidelines, crafted with the assistance of A Better City, that were adopted in 2017 and revised regulations than now eliminate the prohibition of restaurants serving tables and outdoor seating located across sidewalks. Temporary pick-up zones have been created to facilitate take out business at restaurants.
In May, the City announced a new “Healthy Streets” Initiative that will implement changes to the streets to offer more space for safe physical distancing for pedestrians, better accommodation for bike riders, outdoor space for small businesses, and bus stop and bus lane improvements. New protected bike lanes will be added to major downtown streets, including portions of State, Tremont, Washington, Boylston, Charles, Beacon, Arlington Streets, and Columbus Avenue. A dedicated bus lane will also be added to Washington Street, and several well-used bus stops will be expanded to provide more distancing on Warren Street and Blue Hill Avenue and at MBTA stations at Maverick, Hynes Convention Center, Broadway, and Haymarket. More bus lanes and bus stop expansions are being considered to add to the program to enhance safe travel for bus passengers.
Like Boston, the Town of Brookline, where restaurants support the vitality of its pedestrian-scaled commercial areas, is working to find adequate space for outdoor eating beyond its narrow sidewalks. Magnets like the Coolidge Corner Theater and Brookline Booksmith are awaiting the opportunity to reopen. The Booksmith is looking to expand to better serve its customers and support its financial stability. The economy and the public realm – whether it’s eating places, community institutions, or a small park to rest while on a shopping excursion – are interrelated and support each other’s vitality and viability.
MassDOT has introduced a new grant initiative called the “Shared Streets and Spaces” program that aims to provide more public space for walking and biking and to supporting keep main streets vibrant and safe. The program will provide funding opportunities to assist cities and towns in creating public space and support public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce. The program is scheduled to be launched on June 22, 2020.
THE “NEXT NORMAL” FUTURE POST-COVID-19 PUBLIC REALM
Some commentators have been less optimistic about the future after the pandemic has been brought under some control with widespread use one or more vaccines. Some have said we will be fearful of gathering in the public realm. Recent experience in the spaces that have been opened provide contrary evidence.
That vaccine milestone could be achieved by the beginning of 2021, but more likely the “12 to 18 months” promise may not even be achieved. Until that magic moment when the “all clear” whistle is sounded, we will still be enjoying the public realm in a more limited way wearing masks, exercising physical distancing, and making more frequent use of hand sanitizers. We will inhabit stores, restaurants, sidewalks, and parks, and maybe even in a very limited way our concert halls and sports fields.
Before trying to describe the “Next Normal”, it is worth reviewing characteristics of the old normal: what are some of the attributes of 2019 that we would like to see in 2021? First of all, people will use the public realm if it was accessible and if they perceive it as safe. Some of the accessible public realm was outdoors, and some indoors. Some was under public ownership and control, and some was privately owned public space. The range of public realm environments included hardscape, softscape, sidewalks, streets, plazas, parks, woods, beaches, marshes, stores, lobbies, and courtyards. There was a great variety of places with varying degrees of accessibility and supporting a wide range of possible activities: active and passive, and look but don’t touch.
In Boston, we have the Common, Public Garden, Emerald Necklace, HarborWalk, Copley Square, Louisburg Square, Franklin Park, and Stony Brook Reservation. We have Quincy Market, Boston Public Market, and Time Out Market. We have TD Garden, Fenway Park, the Fenway, and White Stadium. We have wide sidewalks on Boylston Street, and narrow Acorn Street. We had places teeming with people and places nearly untouched by the public.
Will all of these and many other public spaces in Boston be populated again in the same numbers?
After the all-clear when the masks come off and the tape measures are put away, I suspect that our human urges as social animals will take over. Saint Peter’s Square will fill at Easter as will the Champs Elysees on VE Day. Macy’s and its Thanksgiving Parade will teem with New Yorkers and visitors. Gillette Stadium, TD Garden, and Fenway Park will fill with fans, and every day the pocket park or playground down the street will again be filled with adults, children, and their dogs.
And, in the best of future worlds, informed by our current experience, we will be watchful for the next source of disease, and we will have the resources, knowledge, and wisdom to prepare us to deal with it so that we will feel safe and can continue to enjoy the public realm with our fellow citizens.
