An open square fronted by buildings, often filled with outdoor dining and public events. It would be the heart of downtown Bristol, pedestrian friendly, and in use day and night.
The surrounding uses often include open-air cafes on the ground floor, offices on the second floor, and residential above.
Events often include outdoor concerts, public markets, festivals and movies.
The surrounding buildings are typically human-scaled, and human-proportioned (taller than wider).
Check out and vote for your ideas associated with a piazza here.
Progress:
December 10, 2010: Piazza idea posted on bristolrising.com.
March 15, 2011: Piazza reaches 200 Likes and qualifies for feasibility study.
August 6, 2011: Pop-up piazza event attracts 15,000 people, a city record.
April 25, 2011: Piazza is deemed financially feasible by Renaissance Downtowns and submitted as main feature in Concept Plan to City of Bristol.
October 11, 2011: City of Bristol approves concept plan.
August 4, 2011: Second pop-up piazza event once again attracts 15,000 people.
February 13, 2013: Phase I site plan featuring piazza is approved by City Council.
I think that this would be a great focal point where we could encourage everyone to meet in the space. We could incorporate many of the ideas such as skating rink, destination venue like concert hall etc.
On the smaller side could work, anything too big would probably be a waste because I don’t see large space like that getting used in a big way around here even long term.
I love the concept as long as what is in the piazza would be something that would attract people to it year round. The skating rink idea would be good here.
The nature of this kind of space is that it is dynamic, and fluid, and it will become different things over time, largely depending upon who lives/works/plays around it. How did the Romans do it? They built around these open squares, added water elements, some chairs, and voila – life happens there! Artists, musicians, jugglers, and street vendors among the people congregating – or just passing through. The vibrancy comes from the people and the amenities that surround the space itself.
Perhaps we start thinking of existing events/groups that could use the space and then we can discuss additions from there. For example the MUM festival is one event that could use the space and perhaps the Historical society could hold an event there.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the farmer’s market in the center of a town square?
I also like the idea of the ice-skating rink.
Also, available, easy parking to access the year round activities.
Evergreen Walk in South Windsor uses their street to hold a fundraiser for the SW public schools: The Longest Dinner Table.
I love this idea!! Plaza lined with Cafes and shops. Outdoor summer music and events! The Farmers Market!
Farmers markets, outdoor concerts, movies in the summer, ice skating in the winter…I absolutely love this.
Great Idea
Great thoughts everyone!!
Dawn Leger has an interesting idea going on.
Quoted from Wikipedia’s article on Roman Forums (what we would call a plaza today):
“In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, a forum was a gathering place of great social significance, and often the scene of diverse activities, including political discussions and debates, rendezvous, meetings, et cetera.”
This could be a great means of hosting all sorts of events and activities; fundraisers, speeches, music festivals, markets theatrical performances, etc.. This is best implemented if it can be a dynamic and flexible space, and a fun place as well. Just as the forum was the soul of ancient Roman cities, so will the plaza be for Bristol.
It would be unique is we called it The Forum or The Piazza.
Love it. And Dawn pegged it — fluid, active, a place for people … and perhaps, gelatto!
My only reservation about this is the supreme lack of parking in downtown Bristol and a lack of anyone’s motivation to walk downtown. A parking structure (as hideous as it sounds) would have to be considered as well.
As Crafts Chairperson of the Mum Festival, I would love to use this type of space as our festival continues to grow!!
It would be nice to draw some businesses into Bristol creating jobs and drawing in revenue for our town.
If critical issues like anchors which are real draws (movies, sports, dining) and present and future parking needs are realistically addressed (ie multi-level garages) a piazza which is really a town center could be great. It could be even better if we followed Portland, Oregon’s lead and kept cars out or on the edges.
I think it’s a great idea it could be used for so many things. A lot of good ideas out there
How about renaming this Bristol Piazza or The Piazza at Bristol as a working title instead of just Piazza.
River Walk did it using Pequabuck and using the title
Pequabuck River Walk.
Inspired by the continued passion and commitment Bristol Rising members have demonstrated, and the fact that the piazza is the one idea that is on track to reach 200 votes by March 15, Renaissance Downtowns demonstrated commitment on their end as well.
Renaissance has invested in a consultant that possesses considerable experience working with piazzas, the nonprofit Project for Public Spaces, to provide a preliminary inquiry on the feasibility study for the piazza. Here’s a summary of their notes:
Biggest challenge:
Support for a piazza will require some cultural change: Piazzas need to be sustained by a market that values walking/pedestrian-oriented places, and able to focus on developing a new, additional economic industry around placemaking.
What is needed from the crowd:
Short term uses: Temporary uses, public events, pop-up retail to inform how the square will be used long term. These will be identified on this site under “Events”, where the top 5 with at least 50 votes by March 15 will receive preliminary feasibility studies.
Permanent uses: What retail amenities will provide at least 10 activities that can be going on at any one time. These will be identified on this site under “Retail”, where the top 5 with at least 100 votes by March 15 will receive preliminary feasibility studies.
The biggest factor for success:
80% of the success of any public amenity is how it’s managed, so there will need to be a strong investment in the piazza’s management capacity starting now.
I agree that a parking structure is a good idea for downtown. However, if you’ve attended any of the Bristol Rising meetings, they made an excellent point that a huge percentage of the parking availability in downtown is hardly even used. There’s plenty of parking in downtown. The problem is that people don’t want to park anywhere that isn’t directly in front of the place that they’re going. Take the parking near the Burger King for instance. There’s always plenty of parking there, but people don’t want to park there and walk down the street to get to where they’re trying to go. That being said, I still think a parking garage would benefit the downtown area a great deal, but if people would resign to parking a block away from where they’re going and get some exercise by walking a good part of that problem would take care of itself
I think that setting up a kiosk for the local music/art scene would be great for the piazza. Allowing some of the local talent to submit some of their work for retail would be a great boost in exposure for them. Whether it be a music group, an artist, or a photographer submitting their work, I think it would be great to support the arts in that way
I also think giving a venue for those same artist to showcase their work would be a great idea. Maybe having a stage for some local music acts or a show room for artists and photographers.
Visualize a piazza (or plaza) surrounded by shops, offices, restaurants, cafes. Add some housing. Maybe a fountain with a man-made river that dumps into a pond with goldfish. Or possibly incorporate the Pequabuck river with a river walk. Benches, tables with umbrellas and chairs scattered around. Add some of those tables they have in parks down in Philadelphia where seniors living on Laurel St can meet for a cup of coffee and play chess or checkers.
Sit and relax with an iced tea and read a book or listen to music on your iPod… Stop at the microbrewery for a beer, appetizer and/or sandwich. Pop in the bookstore and browse or use the free wireless and/or grab a pastry, mini cheesecake, or cupcake at the bakery along with a cup of coffee, cappuccino or latte and sit outside with a friend, spouse or family member and enjoy each other’s company.
I think a retractable glass roof would enable the piazza area year round useage. Design would be key. Cost and funding for the project is important keep the ideas coming thanks MB
I like the idea of retail on the bottom floor and businesses above, but if you put residential on top of that you’re going to have a bunch of people crying about the possible live music you’re proposing. If the police are constantly responding to noise complaints, these “cultural events” will die down soon enough and we’ll just have a large empty lot at night, which could lead to an increase in crime.
Has anyone on the Bristol Rising committee ever looked at Burlington Vermont’s downtown. I believe they have a piazza concept. Another successful comeback city is Portland, Maine. Both have made it work by taking very solid and sensible chances, using the areas natural and historic beauty..which Bristol DOES have (sorry naysayers) luring business downtown with reasonable rent, interesting stores and businesses..I would love to get a Trader Joe’s grocery store downtown. I think dollar stores (Bristol has a few) are okay, if they designed them with a little more old fashioned style not just a tasteless cold box… we need retail diversity surrounded by Green trees, little parks and common areas. A dog park is also a nice way to get people out…. Southington has a very popular one. A Strawberry festival is also a great fundraiser for a sponsor..I am rambling on now so I will stop. Kathleen Connolly
Believe it or not, younger people and creative types tend to take those upper residential units because they actually like the noise. It may also be the only way you’d bring back those from Bristol who enjoyed living in the noisy big city and think the downtown is too quiet. They’ll also have a floor of daytime offices as a buffer.
I’ve been to both places, and even did a study on Burlington’s pedestrian-only streets (more of a mall than a plaza) 7 years ago, with a brief write-up here. A key to its success was that it was at least 80% local indie businesses vs chains.
Portland, Maine may not have a pedestrian-only zone, but it did just open the first ever crowdsourced coworking space (which is a rising entry on this site here) which would be a fantastic second-floor use overlooking the piazza.
Ryan, I’m in favor of your suggestion. Baseline regard of existing events is practical and considerate For one, it could promote these events even further with an up-dated look within a new venue. I’m especially thinking about the MUM festival. It’s such a wonderful drawing card.
Whatever we do, it should allow Bristol to differentiate itself and make it unlike any other town, i.e., display its diversity. Why not celebrate the various ethnicities of Bristol (Italian, Polish, German, Asian, Swedish, etc.) This could be in the form of restaurants or markets (such as Polonia). The success of this would be measured by people saying to one another, “Let’s grab the train to Bristol for some [whatever] food. We could meet in the Piazza, eat and then take a walk along the river or go to the [whatever] museum.†One caution with restaurants: less may be more…in terms of size. Small=less overhead=improved chance of success.
Hey Rich and Paul…those are wonderful ideas and get me excited about the idea of our own piazza in Bristol!
Folks,
Be sure to vote on various piazza uses / events here!
http://bristolrising.com/?page_id=4&showtag=piazza&sort=rating
I like the idea of the piazza, but you seem to only be thinking about summer, and nice weather. What is your draw in cooler weather/winter? I think if you combine the idea of a river walk/bike trail. This is what Putnam did, that riverwalk is always in use, 12 months a year, with walkers, dog walkers, bike riders etc. The town is thriving…The little boutiques, shops, restaurants(with outside cafes for summer), Antique shops, a Band stand alongside the river for open air concerts, events, etc. Another plus factor to the riverwalk is the health benefits it provides to the walkers. I like the idea of the ice rink, also.
What about shifting development around more in the downtown area so that parking would be more equally distributed? Possibly eliminating the need for a parking garage.
I think that this is a great idea that would attract alot of younger people
I think this is exactly what the city needs; a place other than a bowling alley or a fast food restaurant where kids can hang out.
I think this would be a great idea. Kids could hang out there and be in a safe place. The other ideas could also be incorporated into this idea.
Defiently interested as long as they build us teens an amazing club to party at!!!
To have a vibrant place for foks to live and meet, places to sit and talk, eat or shop, hear music, see wonderful art works in walking distance…that was the true meaning of Piazza, whether it is in Italy or Bristol…definitely the top item on our list.
Burlington Vermont, Boulder Colorado, and South Beach Florida are some of the cities with wonderful pedestrian-only streets which bring the people out. They include many options for meals, as well as shops and art galleries. Many of these places have live music, such as a guitar player, or small dance floors.
Wonderful idea. We need to promote uses of downtown that ARE NOT related to automobiles!!! Get people outside. I envision this space being very flexible and supportive of local artists and musicians (buskers) and small businesses. One thing that would absolutely ruin the piazza are franchise-type establishements. I will NOT visit a space occupied by bland, faceless corporations like Starbucks, Sur La Table, Pottery Barn, etc. You get the picture. Keep it local!
A great draw for families would be an area where the water squirts up from the ground. Dogs and kids love it!
this is the best to Bristol to have a place to do something !!!
I think that European style piazzas or plazas are community friendly and sustainable living areas that enhance the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants, but I have yet to see any good examples in the states. They require entirely different city organization which our short-sighted city planners in recent history did not account for. Another concern is that this area would be too small to host a plaza, especially if Mcdonalds insists on occupying the soon to be former dfo building. Having said that, I have always seen tremendous potential in the city of Bristol and I would be happy to contribute to the city’s revitalization in any way possible!
I think all of these ideas are great. I love the ice skating rink. I would like to see shops,cafes,and a farers market.We would need to make sure we have enough for all year events.We don’t want to have it die out in the colder months. I like the post from Dawn Leger,Ryan Porter.Bristol needs this to work.
The Piazza at Bristol GREAT NAME
Marge Barnum