Eiffel Tower
Paris, France

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.

New Great Places

Mission Dolores Park
San Francisco, CA, USA
by: Brian Geraghty

from the HALL of SHAME:

Old Street
London, United Kingdom
by: Jen Sloan

Diagonal Mar:

(11/07/09 by Stavros Martinos)

I'll second that the commentary on Diagonal Mar park is quite harsh. It was unfortunate that such a fun and well thought-out landscape project was placed in the middle of urban disaster zone, but, in my point of view (and after having found myself willing to play in there!), it's the only breath of fresh air around."

Boston Common & Public Gardens:

(11/06/09 by RainyDay Interns)

Fall is a great time to check out the Boston Public Garden. Colors peak in late Oct/early Nov. The willows around the pond are especially beautiful on a bright sunny day. Check out the write-up of our Nov visit here: http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM2009/Home/November/Week1/RDMHomeNov0509.htm#BostonPublicGarden Click on any of the images for a larger version. Sincerely, RainyDayInterns"

Empire State Plaza:

(11/04/09 by Kevin Mooney)

I love Empire State Plaza! It's an amazing and grotesque and brutal example of modern architecture. I love going there when there are no events and few people. It is quiet, and it feels like it's all yours. You feel like you are in a library or a museum. The plaza was clearly intended to be a work of art and not a living space. It is a park, not a neighborhood. I can live with some places being that. Last time I was there, I saw some kids riding their bikes down the steps in front of the museum. Architecture seems to be reviled and mostly destroyed before it is appreciated..."

San Antonio Central Library:

(11/04/09 by Natalie Casto)

I have lived in San Antonio all my life. I have traveled to many great cities and have been to different parts of the world. I think that it is a 'Shame' for someone to portay this beautiful building as something ugly. It's design is Mexican Modernist. I love the infamous 'enchilada red' color of the building. It is very San Antonio, Texas. It reflects on the colors of a annual week long festival celebrating Mexican heritage, FIESTA. Some folks wouldn't understand that. The interior has lots of stone work, natural light, art exibits, and a unique chandelier of blown glass with more 'fiesta colors'. This building has 6 levels, plenty of room to work. It is also functional with computer terminals at nearly every level. The parking garage is never packed, it has plenty of space. When you enter the building one is greeted by a lovely fountain. The building is really at an ideal location. It is downtown, about 2 blocks from the highway I-35, and about 10 blocks from San Antonio College. Many student use this library, including me. Why the big deal about a bus stop!!?? That stop belongs to VIA bus transit, not the library. Maybe the author, Don Mathis, needs to learn about Mexican art and San Antonio......."

La Plaza Mayor :

(10/28/09 by Gabrielle Woods)

I spent my junior year of college attending la Universidad de Salamanca. La Plaza Major was the center of the social life of the international crowd I ran with. I am trying (unsuccessfully) to remember the name of the nightclub we went to after making the rounds of the tapas bars in the plaza and the surrounding neighborhoods. (I remembered - Scorpio's tre 70's. But GOOD TIMES were had by all!) Salamanca is (or was at least) a very pedestrian oriented city with surprisingly good public transportation as well. I shared an exquisite penthouse apartment near the university the year but we were able to get everywhere by foot. After my roomies left at the end of the academic year, I rented an apartment for a few months across the street from the train station. It was a community with a much differenct feel than the older center of town but was an up an coming neighborhood. I would love to see it now. I haven't been back in 33 years and am planning to take my college junior daughter this summer to show her where her mother got her first taste of the world. One of the best years of my life. One of the best places in the world."

National Mall:

(10/08/09 by Michelle Jaffe)

The National Mall does not deserve to be in the worst category. As a resident of the district for 8 years, I have fond memories of the national mall, playing frisbee, watching people play soccer. Although when i was there recently they had closed off the turf areas, so maybe that's partly why it made this list. It's also important to understand this green space in it's context is surrounded by the Smithsonian museums, which add to the diversity of activity. The space is also used for many festivals. "

Fundidora Park:

(10/04/09 by Rosy De la Garza)

Really is a great park, perhaps the biggest in Mexico. All the people in Monterrey are proud of it"

Esplanade Park:

(09/24/09 by Michelle Jaffe)

I have family in Finland and when I go and visit this is one of my favorite places (in the summer of course!). What is so great is that the park also makes sitting in a cafe along the esplanade a very pleasant activity (the tables and chairs typically face out towards the sidewalk, street and the park - as in, you and your cafe companion both face the street, not each other -this quite different from what we typically see in the US). And I imagine the value of this park to the businesses along the esplanade is great. In addition, the market square at the waterside end of the park is amazing, full of local fruits and vegetable vendors and local food vendors. And In the summer time there are always art performances going on in the esplanade. "

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao:

(09/24/09 by Nathalie Winans)

With all due respect to the efforts and credentials of architects or starchitects, a failed public space is a failed public space, regardless of how many individuals are involved in its elaboration. It's all the more disappointing when that space interrupts the public life of a bustling city. Just what constitutes successful public space? At its most basic, shouldn't it be a place that people use and enjoy? On that measure, the Guggenheim Bilbao is an unambiguous failure. That isn't finger-pointing, nor does it require an advanced degree to figure out. If anything, the no-man's land around the Guggenheim acts as an invisible velvet rope, keeping the rabble from spoiling the view of the Gehry masterpiece. Applicable here is Wilde's quote, "The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless." Art doesn't have to be useful. Buildings do. They are used, they are interacted with, and at this scale they are big enough to have significant implications for their surroundings and for the people who deal with them on a daily basis. By that measure, the Guggenheim Bilbao succeeds magnificently as a work of art and fails miserably as a component of the urban fabric. And there lies the challenge: to create buildings that are beautiful, useful, AND well suited to their context. "

Washington DC Fish Market:

(09/18/09 by Bill Hoo)

Oh Yes! The Waterfront will be so much better when they bring in a Legal Seafoods, waterside McCormick & Schmick's, Starbucks, and a private members only Supper Club to keep out the dregs of society. The economic impact to the area would be phenominal!!"