Pioneer Courthouse Square
Portland, OR, USA

People's Choice

These are the places we remember most vividly, the places where serendipitous things happen, the places we tell stories about.

Browse through over 600 public spaces to see what makes places great--and why each one is unique. While you're here, you can nominate your own favorites or add to the Hall of Shame.

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Recent Comments

Here's what people are saying about...

UN Plaza:

(07/02/09 by ilaria salvadori): Completely agreed. the plaza is one of the most unwelcoming, neglected and depressing spaces. Furthermore, the civic center doesn't promote aggregation amongst people and respect of its civic functions."
Chattanooga/ Hamilton County Tennessee River Walk:

(06/18/09 by Kathleen Lutz): My daughter and I visited Chattanooga on an extended trip through TN and FL and had a wonderful time. The amount of hard work and vision that has gone into transforming the city and blending it with the environment is evident. Our original stop was at the aquarium and we were pleased to find the area surrounding the facility to be an attraction itself with greenscaping, water features, sculptures and paths. We made our way over the Walnut Street Bridge to Coolidge park. Coolidge park has beautiful open space for all types of activities, an interactive fountain, carousel and local shopping and eating nearby. However, returning to downtown, we (like the previous poster) lost the continuation of the path near the museum. It seems to run through the local neighborhood a bit but I'm not sure. Upon my return home and further research for our next trip, it took about an hour of online digging to find a single map that showed the entire greenscape/trail plan. This is located at http://www.hamiltontn.gov/TNRiverpark/Images/hamiltonco_riverwalk_distance.pdf I would encourage the leaders of this project to post more information at the actual parks and points along the trail and evidently near the museum. A map similar to the linked one would be great along with information about the amenities located at each facility or entry point. It's a shame that because of the lack of a little information some visitors are missing a beautiful piece of your city. If I would have known how much further the trail went, we would have looked for bike rentals (are there any available?) so we could have further enjoyed your city. I would encourage anyone who enjoys a small town feel combined with big city amenities to visit Chattanooga. "
Empire State Plaza:

(06/18/09 by mickeba von sage): Rockefeller thought "big" and this is certainly "big". Perhaps subconsciously, the plaza grew out of Rockefeller's realization that he'd never become President, so he created his own kingdom? Having never been to the plaza, and reading the testimonials, I am interested in seeing it. It does look "fascist" to a certain degree, but I can see where it could have elements that would encourage human activity. The concerts sound terrific. mickeba"
Pretty Water Lake:

(06/16/09 by Donald Hitchcock): I lived in berryhill back in the 50s and I would ride my bike over to fish. It was a beautiful lake then and with the beautifucation project it has to real beautiful lake. I have a friend that still fishes there. Johnny Reed. Donald Hitchcock"
Petaling Street:

(06/02/09 by Aisan KianMehr): well above all, base on my personal experience, what makes this place so unique and still interesting for old/new visitors is the compactness of the spaces esp. the passageways in between the stalls, the two way path of hardly 1 meter-wide, some of which were already invaded by the racks of bags and shirts or cantilevered extension of the tables!!and still there's a chance of a cart of merchandise or beverage/ice-cream vendors passing through which makes the funniest scene ever when the dealers start to scream loud to warn people walking in front,you don't know what happens neither what they say till you hear a rumbling movement of old wheels by a cavalier rider, and you grab on anything, jump on any elevated edge just to save your toes! The most compact place on earth which has got enough attraction for making you come back again! Petaling Street of Kuala Lumpur is a remarkable collection of all the human races in the smallest imaginable place! there simply could be a cycle in the flow of people into these two channels but more interestingly i noticed, by the diversity of the visitors in this place_ dare to say from all over the world_ those of 'drive on the left countries' habitually choose the left side to start from and vice versa.that's just my assumption based on some random observations but still undeniable! wink "
Al-Azhar Park:

(05/27/09 by sharle chaplin): thank you"
Chattanooga/ Hamilton County Tennessee River Walk:

(05/23/09 by Candace Janish): The riverwalk is "friendly" bicyclists in some areas. I do not believe all areas are open to them. IF you had researched the area as well as you should have you would have seen that it is a small sidewalk, and you should not bike the trail if you are not comfortable with sharing a small space. I come upon bikers often and it is no problem if they know how to share. The riverwalk is an amazing area. The area you were on is one VERY VERY SMALL PART. The real riverwalk, the classic one that is 13 miles plus, is not the one by the art museum. Research before you critize a wonderful part of our city. "
Liberty Lands:

(05/20/09 by Todd Kimmell): One of the many things that makes Liberty Lands amazing is The Lawn Chair Drive-In, a free weekly film screening that run for 10 weeks in the summer... 14 years now in Liberty Lands! Old films on 16mm. Friends and neighbors meeting and relaxing with each other. Some people come early and make a huge picnic out of it. Sometimes we'll have an opening band, like Jet Weston & his Atomic Ranch Hands. The city comes and educates about recycling. Community events get announced. We get a couple hundred people every week, just lounging about on a soft summer night. We DO NOT show kiddie films on DVD, though specifically more kid friendly films are screened later in the season when the sun goes down earlier. We don't show gore films or blatantly smutty films, but we do show amazing films, every year. The Lawn Chair Drive-In has been going on in Philly since the late 80s... community building in the best punk rock / DIY tradition. http://lawnchairdrivein.com/Site/Home.html"
Quarry Market Shopping Center:

(05/17/09 by D. Laske): Here's what's crazy: In the context of San Antonio, the Quarry Market is considered one of the best shopping destinations in the city. You have to see San Antonio for that to make sense. So many people think San Antonio is so great because all they bother to see is the Alamo and the Riverwalk. Try living here! It is like a concentration of all that is wrong with Texas-- architecture, urban planning, environment, and I'm sorry, but education."
Tate Modern:

(05/08/09 by matthew connell): It's a bit juvenile to rate a public space as one of the 'worst in the world' because you don't like the way the trees and benches are laid out, and you saw a rat late at night. Until recently, the Tate Modern was a disused power station cut off from the rest of London. Now it is one of the most popular modern art museums in the world, with around 5 million visitors a year, linked to St Paul's by an amazing pedestrian footbridge. The area in front of the museum isn't really a park, it's a place designed to help pedestrians move around London - up and down the Thames, and across the river into the City. During big public events like the Thames Festival, it is used by many thousands of people in a single day. Cluttering it up with flower beds would be counterproductive. Inside, not everyone may like the turbine hall - personally, I think it is an impressive, monumental space. Whether it's to your taste or not, it is the only indoor gallery in London which can hold really large sculptures, so it definitely adds something to what the city has to offer. I'm glad it hasn't been turned into yet another place for people to sit around and guzzle coffee - London already has plenty of those. The Tate also has other nice touches, like the orange lampposts outside the museum that guide you to the nearest Tube station, that the review didn't mention. I'm not saying that the area is perfect. The trees and benches may need rearranging (although I must say I've never found them a problem on numerous visits). More importantly, as other people have said, there aren't enough really pleasant places to rest along the walk between Tate Modern and Westminster Bridge. The area to the south of the Tate Modern also needs to be developed, and hopefully the planned extension will give the Tate a great presence on the Southwark side of the Museum. But this public space is only 10 years old - it will improve with age, because it has the fundamentals right: it is very popular, and it is pedestrian-friendly. All in all, I have to say you can find a more balanced and insightful view of the Tate Modern by looking at the reviews on Trip Advisor than you can by reading the above 'case study'."