The Public Spaces Listserve is an open forum for people of all backgrounds to discuss the pressing (and sometimes not-so-pressing) issues concerning public spaces. Below are some highlights from recent discussions.

On the commercialization of public spaces

So the NFL turned the Washington Mall into the country's largest sports bar - complete with Jumbotron TV screens. They broadcast the game from "FedEx Field" - maybe that says it all.

Hey, if it's a success, why not keep it open for the whole season? How about "The Nike Mall, located within the Miller High Life Triangle, and brought to you by Oldsmobile - it's not your parent's civic space anymore"

Target already sponsored the renovation of the Washington Monument - with a "relaxed" approach we could allow them to paint the surrounding plaza and grounds in red & white, so you could see the Target logo from space - talk about advertising...I mean 'sponsorship'!!!

Carolyn L. Krall Minneapolis, MN

We have to be prepared to make sure that the appropriations for our nation's parks and monuments are kept up and not nickel and dimed in the fine print of budget negotiations. If we want non-commercialized public spaces, we have to be active citizens and make sure that they are well funded from the public coffer.

Adam Honigman New York, NY

On James Kunstler's article "Big and Blue in the USA"

It is clear to me that the pursuit of the "American Dream" is self-destructive. It is not clear to the general public that considers themselves "innocent" and "righteous" and with God given rights to all things which have been marketed to them. I am sensing that the arguments that have been accepted and prevalent in urban design literature are starting to have some traction in the general public's mind. What I haven't seen yet is a willingness to see a creative solution to all of the above coming from within the suburban community. It is much like a drug addict that is being preached to by reformers...with good intentions, but no respect for the poor fools. Innovative projects to make the suburbs work better for the current residents would be welcome. Polarization of positions doesn't seem to do much more than create fanatical troops on which to fan emotions and egos.

David Rigall Tampa, FL

I find Kunstler's voice and views to be far from extreme, if only because this is ground many North Americans should find familiar as part of our collective - if vanishing - experience, rather than a prescription for an unreachable Utopian future. He serves an important role by critiquing the demoralizing and often banal state of the health of our cities and ourselves, as well as our national unwillingness to accept that there are problems to be addressed through urban policy as well as individual action. These are not unrelated set of factors, and bringing them to our attention is a necessity in the business-as-usual world societies most of us live in.

Frank Ducote Vancouver, BC