Anonymous, you're terrific. Thank you.

I think that this proposal contains great ideas for the New Haven Green. I believe that if approved, it would bring lots of business into new haven as well as clean up some of the violence and drug activities that occur in the current green setting. I do see a concern with having food and such in the green, there would need to be workers that are cleaning up the trash, especially trash that people leave on the ground (or that the wind may blow around). I like the idea of more lighting, but only if it stays lit at night, this will make it more passable for people to walk through the green at night given that it is lighted, as well as allow for crimes to be seen. Will the restrooms be maintained? I can see this as a potential place for crimes to occur, especially at night time. I think that cameras will need to be installed and some sort of security 24 hours 7 days a week to ensure that non of the property is damaged or stolen and no one gets hurt. "Calm the traffic" on page 16, how will this occur? I do not agree with the curb bump outs or narrowing of the roads. I fear the widening of the curbs will create traffic to become worse than it already is downtown (especially with buses). New Haven has busy streets with lots of TRAFFIC daily, making the traffic worse will scare away visitors and keep people from visiting downtown, and make the new plan for the green a bust. I like the idea for the green in the winter time with the skating rink is a great idea! This will keep the businesses going through the cold winter months. Will dogs be allowed on the green? I think there should be a place for dogs to go as well, maybe even a dog park, of course providing small dog waste bags for proper cleanup of waste.

Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed looking through the proposal. I really love it. I for one would definitely spend more time at the green. One of my concerns is that it would become an area of sketchy behavior. The Chapel St side of the Lower Green has always been my least favorite part about the Green, I especially love the idea to reenergize that section. My biggest concerns are with the roads. I would suggest a new traffic light mid block on Temple St. That could calm speeds and make crossing the street safer. I would also strongly encourage dedicated bus lanes on Elm Street from College St to Temple St, on Temple St from Elm St to Chapel St, and along Chapel St (at least from Church St to College St). From what I understand, a cycle track is already under consideration.

This plan shows a total lack of understanding of New Haven and the New Haven Green. All the consultants have done is cut and paste ideas from Bryant Park and Stockholm and Portland and impose them on a very different kind of space in a very different kind of community.

The plan says on page 4 "The primariy issue ... is that there is little for people to do there other than attend an event, take the bus or just hang out." That's exactly what the Green is for! It's a place to spend time and see people ("hang out"). It's a center of downtown coming and going (a bit more than just catching a bus) and a place where the city holds special events, formal ones like concerts and plays as well as informal ones like demonstrations. We don't need a lot of artificial jollification or a lot of commercialism to make that happen.

That said, of course there is room for improvement. Start with maintenance -- the condition of the paths and lighting and planters needs improvement. There also is need for more sensitively designed lighting, and hookups for water and power for events. There could be more benches, and maybe some well designed tables. Traffic patterns need re-thinking. The one-way streets encourage vehicles to go too fast, making pedestrians uncomfortable. And the lines of idling busses make the place unattractive. A long term goal might be to build a downtown transportation point that's not on the green, although it certainly should be near the Green.

Most of all, the Green needs people. Just go -- on a sunny afternoon there may be people you're not used to hanging out with, but it really isn't a dangerous place. Frederick Law Olmsted, the great parks planner of the 19th century and the creator of Central Park, wrote that city parks were intended to be places where citizens of all classes could meet, and that this was important for the working of a democratic society. My biggest beef with this plan is that it ignores this aim of bringing *all* the people of the city to the Green; instead the consultants want to turn the Green into a middle-class amusement park. Look at how many of their proposed features involve spending money--food from beer gardens and kiosks and carts, carousel rides, bike rentals, and such. One of the Proprietors' longstanding principles has been that the Green should be a center of civic activity and they have strictly kept it noncommercial. This is refreshing in a society that has become increasingly commercialized. I might make an exception for a farmers' market, because I have found New Haven's farmers' markets to be as much about socializing as they are about commerce.

Thanks for posting this. I've been trying to follow the process but it's been really hard to get information. How do we get comments to the powers that be?

@Guest Project for Public Spaces just tweeted a link to this so I know they are listening but I will post your reply to the powers that be as well!

Well done to the See Click Fix team for sharing this proposal and inviting comment. The planning team seems to have identified most of the relevant issues; it's encouraging to imagine a vibrant future for the town green. I strongly agree with the sentiment in the report: our green is an underutilized resource. I'm looking forward to seeing some of these ideas implemented.

@Guest "Just go" isn't a solution, though. If it really were that simple, there would be no problem. You can't tell someone with a proactive proposal that the only solution is for them to just start using the green as designed.

While there may be real problems with the proposal, it isn't "simply" copying anything. Instead, it is an outside look at what makes other parks and greens popular, and then an attempt to fit them into the New Haven Green.

I applaud the intentions and many of the elements of this plan, and think New Haven would be better for trying to implement it.

Thank you David...my thoughts exactly! The problem with the Green is that it doesn't attract certain folks-folks that typically support the city and local businesses!

There are a number of good ideas that may increase activity and community while preserving the sense that this is a public space and belongs to all of us including those who use public transportation, walk, and bicycle. More activity along Temple Street to improve the linkage of the two parts of the Green and decrease the feeling that it's vehicle race track. So, yes to water play for children, yes to toilets, farmers market, temporary public art, and use them to make the Temple St.-Center Church-fountain axis more pedestrian friendly. Besides toilets, we need a public water supply on the Green. Wifi at sitting areas on the Green is a good idea too.
Thumbs down on private commercial activities that steal business for the existing merchants and that make folks feel like they can't sit on the Green unless they spend money. Be careful about seasonal fixtures that sit around all the rest of the year.
The analysis of the surrounding streets and traffic is good - pay attention to Complete Streets and make the Green compliant and enthusiastic about walkability. Do integrate bike-sharing into the plan, whether it's on or off the actual Green.

Thus is disappointing on many levels. First, a Green is not a Park: it is an open civic space, not a Carnival site - permanent accommodations of retail activity would mock the historic quality

Following up from above! Would mock the historic blank slate that allows infinite temporary activities to be celebrations, versus attempting to create retail opportunities. Secondly, the entire upper green is a cemetery, not the limited area indicated - born out by the unearthed skeleton west of Trinity. Third the churches mark the Green has having a spiritual foundation - calling Center Church a Meeting House is tine deaf - and honky-tonking just is a misfit in their proximity, as are the endless wall of busses - which brings me to the last and most noteworthy absence from a quick read of the proposal: Why are busses not relegated to the perimeter of the Green versus running thru (or more accurately, left running halfway thru and spewing sound and soot in a total buzz kill)?

So few of the citizen feedback points are recognized here I think this design was in the can months and months ago...sad.

I have lived in the area all of my life and have seen the city grow and change. It is exciting to see what could be done. As someone put it - The green is s a place to spend time and see people It's a center of downtown coming and going and a place where the city holds special events, formal ones like concerts and plays as well as informal ones like demonstrations.

I think the proposal is great but possibly too grand of a plan. Doing a few of the items on the list would be great. I belive the primary goals shoud be : 1. cleaning it up. 2 addressing the bus situation - they create congestion, traffic issues, polution and loitering. Lighting is a big issue so to create saftey at night. Bike lanes around the area, and cross walks to slow down the trafic.

I love new haven! It has become a wonderful city!

Hello there--

It is my understanding that comments are due today on your draft report. It is good to see that the report is approaching completion! I have chosen to make my comments with this email rather than clipping, sticky noting etc to the document itself.

It was my sense at the several open meetings I attended with PPS that all stakeholders were expressing the essential need for new traffic and parking strategies. While such needs are mentioned in the PPS report, they are neither elaborated upon nor given prominence. Instead, planters are plopped on the church aprons!! Solve traffic (including bus routing and transfer) and parking FIRST, and all other ideas will flow easily.

Also unclear in the report is who installs and maintains all the features on the layouts. The Proprietors would seem to have the responsibility, though it is implied that the churches will pay for/maintain the 'events' around each of their buildings. Maybe we'll get an expanded definition of the one or two oxcart's width! At this time, the cart seems to be before the ox!

The City of New Haven really must work with the Proprietors going forward in order to turn these priorities around. Otherwise, in my estimation, nothing will happen. It will be interesting to see what level of commitment there really is on the part of the City and the Proprietors. Stakeholders will be happy participants in further developing strategic ideas for the Green, once there is the sense that an overall reworking of traffic and parking issues can and will happen.

Thank you for your efforts!

MJ (Peg) Chambers, AIA (and active member of Trinity Church on the New Haven Green)

The Green is not a playground, it is the most beautiful, monumental, iconic, historical, and profoundly sacred public space in New England. Although there are some minor elements of this proposal that might be affordable, maintainable, and generally welcome, altogether it is cluttered, cliche, and clumsy to comprehend. It detracts from the timeless simplicity that has been the New Haven Green's strongest suit and one that has taken great effort to protect through the decades. Don't destroy something of great subtle beauty, in exchange for something that is faddish, unnecessary, and expensive. Hopefully, lack of resources will prevent most of this proposal from happening.

I would start with the basics, i.e., making the streets around the Green more attractive.

They used to be pretty, two-way New England streets. At some point in the 1950s, McGrath turned them into massive one-way highways. Jane Jacobs writes about this a bit in her seminal work on cities.

It's as if the City of New York were to run a section of I-95 through the middle of City Hall Park and expect people to continue liking it.

Unfortunately the PPS proposal does not contain enough solutions to improve walkability, and basically does not address the issue of bicycle access at all. The routes through the Green are among the busiest-travel bicycle commuter routes in the entire city.

I also sent a comment, earlier, regarding the bus situation. Assuming stops are kept where they are, the areas where bus drop-offs are made, particularly along Elm, there needs to be modifications to the sidewalk, which is currently far too narrow. The city should be planning ahead for large increases in bus ridership as the population ages.

I also commented that future building height alongside the Green should be restricted. Almost as bad as the one way streets that I discussed above, are the planners who allowed towers to be built right along the Green. These cover the Green with shade and create wind effects which make sections of the Green highly unpleasant.

It's great that SOMEONE wants to make New Haven more desirable.

And maybe Bryant Park can work in New Haven, but I'm dubious. Where are the crowds to capture? Looks like a "busy box" of activities trying to swallow all the social ills of the green. Since the buses bring a good deal of the ills to the green, including all the meth clinic folks from Waterbury (who even regular riders point to with virulent complaints), wonder how they're tackling the supply side of the problem.

Surprising, because it was the William Whyte crowd, precursors to PPS, who proved that you can't plop a bench down and expect people to sit on it. There are more substantive issues, like the environment around the green that supports it.

If the streets were 2-way, narrower and walkable so the green feels more connected to pedestrian traffic at functional storefronts, if there were human scale and useful buildings around the green, and if (significantly) more people lived around the green (assuming it will be some time before a subway stop deposit the kinds of crowds that make Bryant Park work), then this might have a chance.

Seems like Chapel Square Mall redo and redo and redo all over again.

Robert

PS. There's a painting in the stair of the New Haven Museum shot from the New Haven Green looking south across Chapel Street toward the shops in the early 19th c. One is shocked by the intimacy of this picture, how much the green feels engaged with the shops across a narrow Chapel Street. It's this kind of (successful) precedent that should be guiding the hand of planners and designers.

I agree with "Voice of History" -- this plan is trite and cliched. Splash pad? How many National Landmarks have had splash pads added to them? These are very radical changes for a plan based on a consultation with less than 150 people.

Are these comments still useful? Or has the feedback window closed?

The single biggest improvement would be to fund a way to keep the Green meticulously clean. Ideally a team would clean up at dawn each day, before early-morning commuters start walking across.

The next biggest improvement would be to improve the quality of facades along Chapel St. facing the Green. Hire a good modernist architect to consult on sprucing up the arcade of 900 Chapel St., and hire a good traditionalist to work on the block between Temple and College. This would lift that entire frontage, which currently feels dingy and has a deadening effect on the Green.

Help the churches on the Green to work on upgrading their public spaces.

Cobble-stone Temple St. between Chapel and Elm. This would slow down traffic (at the moment cars are often accelerating down Temple to get through the lights at Chapel and are reluctant to stop at the crosswalk) and help to unify the upper and lower Green. Make it two-way.

The pedestrian crosswalk in front of City Hall at Church and Court is the best-functioning crosswalk in the city. Do the same at other points around the Green - particularly, perhaps, at the very center of the Green, half-way down Temple.

Remove or upgrade the tacky wrought-iron fence around the fountain base. If the fence has to be there, put up a real wrought iron fence that is in sympathy with the flagpole in place of the steel fence there now. Remove the tacked-up flyers telling children to keep out.

What would it take to make the fountain itself child-friendly? It would be great to splash in on hot summer days. Other cities seem to pull it off, so if the problem lies in the chemicals, there must be alternatives.

Upgrade the street furniture on the streets immediately surrounding the Green - both the signage and the 70s (?) lampposts.

Replace all the trash cans, and get rid of the assorted plastic toters scattered around.

Make sure that structures are in place to maintain any new features to a consistently high standard. No planter beds are better than empty planter beds or than planter beds containing only a few sorry cabbages. No public restrooms are better than dirty or vandalized public restrooms. Do not allow anything that would have to be paid for by putting up advertising hoardings.

Keep it simple, start with the basics. Cleanliness, good maintenance, spruced-up perimeters, solutions to traffic problems.

Good comments by KD.
Just to remind us all - we are looking for more public use and more alternative transportation. Bus stops and bus passengers are good. They have a reputation because rich people don't ride the bus - that's what needs to change. In the meantime, design of the Green must embrace bus traffic and rein in automobiles.

For Charlotte - buses are crucial to the city, but right know 90% of the busses that use the green as a hub sit in the center of the city's central place, in front of places of worship, there are 4 streets on the 4 outside edges of the green that already have hubbub - relocating the majority of busses to those streets would have no impact on users and would bring a measure of peace to the one central free-for-all space, a place where everyone should find refuge, not a wall of busses.

Hey KD,
I think this is a really important conversation to keep going. I have not heard if they are closed for comment or not but as always SCF can serve as a place to have the conversation regardless of the timelines set by the project.

Not everyone goes to those churches.

Huh, I just actually realized some of the pictures being used in the pdf for potential changes are in fact from Bryant park. Great cities think alike! I have to say though of all the potential changes, one of the simplest, the outdoor reading room, is probably tops.

My main comment disappeared? Well, then I'll say again in general everything shown on Page 8 is pretty awesome. I would still say though Temple St should be closed from say April 1st-Oct 31st. Yes, it will make cars have to go down to State and bus stops having to move, but in the space it frees up for anything from vendors to art displays as well as making the entire Green more pedestrian friendly makes up for it during warm months. A bike corral should be added at once of the entrances so cyclists won't chain bikes to the fence or any other structures. As for people complaining about "changing the character of the green", things change. If it never changed the Green would still be one giant burial pit with ugly storehouses on it. Greens are in fact meant to be activity centers, it's why they're the center of cities usually. The New Haven Green is HUGE for a city the size of New Haven, and in its current state kind of creates a dead zone in the middle of downtown. People go to the bus stops, and congregate if a concert/festival is happening. Most of the time when you look around The Green though it creates a very empty feeling. That''s great if you want to be in solitude, not great for creating a thriving people place. As it stands, the upper green looks as if most of it aside from the NW corner will remain as is minus adding some flower beds and gardens. That is more than ample space for a quiet/solitary section of green.

Of note, if part of the plan is to try to slow traffic around the Green as well as making the streets more friendly to cross, some of the answers can be found in other petitions here. Namely, the cycle track on Elm St as well as at least a bike lane on Church st(possibly extended all the way to where Church St south comes out near Union Station on State). Aside from that though, the plan is pretty rad.

My comment was up for a while, then disappeared too. Want to make note of all the attention and great ideas that have showered on the Green the last many decades, many of which preempt the current design. The great to walk on and look at stone dust walkways, the plentiful and attractive benches, the attractive bus shelters, the attractive lighting including iron street lights (the custom model now graces cities across the country) and the artistic lighting of the churches to look like moonlighting, the attractive and used board games and bocce courts, the attractive fountains and well-used seating around the flagpole, the efforts to maintain New Haven's last remaining name-sake majestic elms and the effort to make other trees teaching opportunities with plaques describing species and the grandness of the treed allées, the recognition of separation and different design for quiet parts of the green and boisterous parts of the green where concerts (attracting 25-45,000), festivals and seasonal events bring traffic from all across the city and region, the services for homeless that play out in and around the three churches, as well as their concerts, lectures and religious services, including the weekly outdoor Chapel on the Green behind Trinity where many hundred WRAPPED gifts were distributed to homeless parishioners just a few weeks ago, and of course the venue for all the heated transformative events where people seek a forum to express idea. When one walks around the huge audience during a concert it's humbling and uplifting to witness the extreme diversity of people from all walks of life gathered to enjoy music packed all together around blankets overstuffed with ethnic delights. The green is the heart and soul of New Haven, and the only place where you see the full panoply of the city all mingled in joint enterprise. There's nothing like it, maybe New York in the 1950s. Austin could certainly take a page from New Haven. So the Green has no shortage of high quality design attention or fulfilling program attention. If there are problems, and there certainly are, they have to be for other reasons.

I've scanned through the document and am excited over many of the proposals. For starters, the adding of flower bed and gardens s at entrances and around the greenis a simple no brainer, improved aesthetics make everyone happier The Green is pretty as it is, yet at the same time it kind of lacks literal color and variety since it's essentially just grass and trees. The vendor space is what I find most important though. Bryant Park in NYC I think offers a shining example. Now, while New Haven can't make the the quasi-permanent structures they have(or perhaps we can!), the addition of those small shops has done wonders for it.(As well as the ice skating rink there! Great cities think alike, big and small). I think the proposed mapped changes on page 8 are overall pretty fabulous. I would be in favor of it as is. One thing I think should change though is during warmer(April 1st to Oct 21st perhaps?), I think Temple St should be entirely shut to auto traffic(and for that matter even mounted cyclists) to create a grand pedestrian promenade with more space for vendors or the farmer market as well as perhaps more art displays. Regardless of what winds up there though, Temple St being open to traffic during the months where people are out and doing things on the Green seriously hinders the Green from becoming one large oasis of people activity, and its closure would make the immediate vicinity particularly more appealing to anyone with children since they'd be able to turn their head to talk to a vendor or ect without having to worry about the traffic coming down Temple. I'm not blind to the potential traffic problems, Church being one way means all traffic would have to go down to State before being able to go west again, as well as having to move bus stops. I do think the payoff though at least in warm months when there is much foot traffic on the Green has a huge payoff though towards making the Green the epicenter of activity. A bike corral should be near one of the entrances as well so bikes stop getting chained to the fence or other structures. Above anything though, while there's usually police around the green as it is, there'd definitely have to be at least one cop on dedicated beat patrol on the green at first since new improvements are just essentially a bull's eye for idiots who want to wreck things.

Need to plug all the work that's been done on the green over the years, much of it precursor to the new proposal. The stone dust walkways, the attractive fountains and activity around the flag pole, the abundant and attractive park benches, the attractive bus shelters, attractive lighting, including the landmark lighting of the three churches to simulate moonlight, the attractive activity places for board games, bocce, etc. and the preservation of New Haven's last remaining magnificent namesake elms, as well as the botanical identification of other species, the attention to quiet and active portions of the green, the phenomenal well-attended (25-45,000) concerts, festivals, and holiday attractions, as well as the consummate effort to keep the green clean (has anyone visited the green the next morning after a concert to see how clean it is and wonder how that happened overnight?). Walking around the Green during a concert is a humbling and uplifting experience as one encounters every walk of life celebrating together. It's a window into the unique diversity of New Haven, a New York of the 1950s. Austin could could sure take a page from New Haven. The green has long been and still is the heart and soul of New Haven. If there are failings, and one can certainly point to them, it's not for lack of high quality attention to and programing of the place. Something else must be wrong.

"The New Haven Green is HUGE for a city the size of New Haven"

That is a key issue. Perhaps a comparison would be in order. The Green is physically larger than the central square of Mexico, the world's largest city. It is about the size of the World Trade Center site, which was a dead zone despite being home to the world's largest office buildings.

Although I appreciate open space, I think that there will always be plenty of it on the Green. For larger areas of open space (e.g., forests), there are several enormous city parks within walking distance, which collectively have hundreds of miles of trails. Any steps to reduce the scale of the open space, like some of those suggested by PPS, would probably be beneficial to the vitality of the city.

Although radical changes would require some time to ponder, we might even consider adding buildings back to the space (the upper Green, not the lower one) some day - during New Haven's heyday, there were several other buildings sitting on the Green, including the State Capitol. A small restaurant or museum could enliven the corner of College and Chapel and help translate the excessive height of the Taft Apartment and Bingham dormitory buildings down to the scale of the Green.