Over the past year, people have been nominating places they love and loathe on our Great Public Spaces website. From well over 100 nominations, we've declared 30 as "official" Great Public Spaces. Along with honoring them in this issue of Making Places, we're handing out wake-up calls to five new Hall of Shame inductees--let's hope these places get turned around soon (one is already slated for renovation: New York's Columbus Park Pavilion).

Keep those nominations coming!

Great Markets

North Union Farmers Market, Cleveland, OH
"Authentic farmers' market in the heartland of Ohio."

The Ridge Market, Cincinnati, OH
"This community-organized fresh-food market saved the neighborhood from a big-box retailer."

Rochester Public Market, Rochester, NY
"Rochester's downtown Public Market, featuring a number of wholesale meat, produce and cut-flower businesses."

The English Market, Cork City, Ireland
"A covered market for fish, fruit, meat and vegetables."

Zanzibar Old Town Market, Zanzibar, Tanzania
"A thriving market with an incomparable mix of architecture and cultures."

Great Buildings

Old Redmond Schoolhouse Community Center, Redmond, WA
"The renovation of a historic high school into a community center has been a catalyst to revitalize downtown Redmond."

Prospect Park Audubon Center, Brooklyn, NY
"The nation's first urban Audubon Center, located in a landmarked building in Olmsted and Vaux's Prospect Park."

Great Streets

Downtown Mall/Amphitheater , Charlottesville, VA
"One of the few downtown pedestrian malls that bucked the trend and is still thriving."

Corso Vanucci, Perugia, Italy
"This pulsating pedestrian thoroughfare is the heart of the hilltop town's historic center."

Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, MO
"The Nation's first shopping center, designed in 1922 and built by J.C. Nichols."

Eureka Springs Downtown Historic District , Eureka Springs, AR
"Pedestrian-friendly, well-preserved streets like this have become a rarity in most small towns."

Kyojima, Tokyo, Japan
"Traditional neighborhood with a lively community and a walkable environment."

St. Charles Avenue Streetcar Line, New Orleans, LA
"Historic avenue, greenway and transportation corridor."

Great Parks

Asafra Beach, Alexandria, Egypt
"Egyptians say 'Alexandria is Asafra': the beach that runs parallel to the city's main street."

Belle Isle Park, Detroit, MI
"Detroit's foremost park, designed by Olmsted, is actually a series of individual islands connected by lovely bridges."

Central Park, Broken Arrow, OK
"This park is the heart of its once-rural community."

Circle of Palms, San Jose, CA
"Sweeping plaza between art museum, first-class hotel, and Class A office tower."

Circle of Palms, St. Louis, MO
"A glorious and beautiful urban park."

Grant Park, Chicago, IL
"This lakefront city park serves as Chicago's 'front yard.'"

Green Dome, Brooklyn, NY
"Flower garden and 'quiet zone' created by local volunteers for the Williamsburg and Greenpoint communities."

Maymont Park, Richmond, VA
"A 100-acre former Victorian estate with an opulent mansion, gardens, beautiful landscapes and outbuildings, a Nature Center, Native Virginia Wildlife Exhibits, a Children´s Farm and a Carriage Collection."

Mount Royal Park, Montreal, Canada
"This urban park is located smack in the middle of Montreal on 545 hilly acres."

Parc de Vallparadís , Terrassa, Spain
"Gardens, steam trains, centennial trees and a great lake are some of the more interesting aspects."

Piazza del Campidoglio , Rome, Italy
"This intimate space overlooking the Forum is one of the world's premier public squares."

Plaza Mayor , Merida, Mexico
"A public square in the heart of Merida."

Plaza de Armas and Mercado Central , Santiago, Chile
"Central Plaza and a Central Market."

Rittenhouse Square Park, Philadelphia, PA
"A gorgeous Center City landmark surrounded by a commercial and residential district."

Downtown Squares, Savannah, GA
"A continuous park system running through the center of downtown Savannah."

The Forks, Winnipeg, Canada
"This former industrial area has been redeveloped to promote outdoor activity both summer and winter - important in a northern city like Winnipeg."

Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, MO
"One of three U.S. parks (along with New York's Central Park and Boston Common) listed as a National Historic Landmark."

Hall of Shame

Bradley Plaza, Milwaukee, WI
"Located on a busy urban intersection, it is completely removed, functionally and experientially, from its surroundings."

Keiner Plaza, St. Louis, MO
"Empty, uninviting, under-utilized... this plaza has all the hallmarks of a failed space."

Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, CA
"One wonders if it's possible to make it across the expanse of this cathedral's positively desert-like plaza without a bottle of water."

PPG Plaza, Pittsburgh, PA
"Nothing more than a sidewalk on steroids."

Quarry Market Shopping Center, San Antonio, TX
"A giant retail complex whose elements are so spread out that shoppers might as well drive between them."