Over the years people have dreamed about how to make a better place out of Cleveland's Public Square. Right now, the square is a serious underperformer. It's a place that people pass through, not a destination they want to linger in. It's chopped up into four quadrants by busy streets that leave little room for greenspace (see picture at right). Each quadrant is poorly designed and programmed. Overall, it's so bad that the Project for Public Spaces, an organization that works internationally on creating urban places for people, ranked Public Square seventh in a list of the world's squares most in need of improvement.

However, community forces may be coming together to do something about the square. As more housing is developed downtown, urban greenspace is seen as vital amenity for economic development. And now, thanks to a survey conducted by a class of undergraduate economics students at Case, there is some evidence that Cuyahoga County residents would like to improve the square, and the public investment would bring substantial returns. 

The survey was conducted for a public policy competition sponsored by the Richard Shatten Memorial Fund of the Cleveland Foundation. Students interviewed 567 people after sending them an information packet with a proposed new design for the square. The design — a quick plan by City Architecture done for ParkWorks — would make the square more pedestrian friendly by narrowing the cross streets (Ontario Street and Superior Avenue) and resurfacing the roads with brick and low curbs to create a more unified plaza out of the four quadrants. Except during morning and evening rush hours, traffic would be blocked from this pedestrian space. A new restaurant, kiosks, music performance space, winter ice rink, open air market, public art exhibits, and other activities would give people more reasons to spend time in the square.

More than three-quarters of the people interviewed were in favor of this plan, with the majority of those stating that they thought it was important to beautify and revitalize downtown. Moreover, by using a method called "contingent valuation," the students found that people were willing to pay an average of $53.50 per household per year for a better square. Applied countywide, that would produce $30 million a year to improve and maintain the square.

The students also found that reconstructing Public Square would bring economic returns. The square would attract 3.9 million more visits, an increase of 50 percent. And if those new visitors spent $25 a visit, downtown businesses would reap almost $100 million more a year.

Students concluded that Cuyahoga County residents care about downtown revitalization and care about Public Square as the city's outdoor "living room." If residents were presented with a plausible plan to improve the square and were asked to approve the civic investment, they would likely say yes.

Now, who will champion the effort to make Public Square one of the great urban spaces in the world?

Updates
In August, 2006 Cuyahoga County commissioners awarded the Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) $150,000 to improve the landscaping and complete a long-term plan for a major makeover of Public Square. DCA is partnering with Parkworks to develop the process for a master plan; the groups hope to make a decision on the process by end of October. Questions about DCA and the Public Square master plan can be directed to the group's president, Joe Marinucci, at 216-736-7799. 

Kent State University's CUDC Fall 2006 graduate studio is investigating the redesign of Public Square. Log on here to see their evolving concepts.  

Proposed new design for Public Square (3.24MB PDF file)
Winning student paper from the Shatten competition (1.94MB PDF file)

Resources
10 principles for creating successful squares