“The Twin Cities Open Space System”

Successful public places are based on four vital characteristics.1 First, multiple access

points and linkages are vital for emergency services, maintenance crews, and communitywide

connectivity. The second factor to successful public places is comfort and image. Residents are

attracted to beautiful, clean, and organized park aesthetics. Third, diverse uses and activities are

crucial to how a park is utilized. Diversity in uses and activities make users more likely to

consistently utilize the space. Finally, the fourth factor to a success public place is sociability. A

public space needs people! Sociability ties it all together most importantly focusing on location,

diversity of uses, and an appealing designed park. The Twin Cities public space system

demonstrates all four of these characteristics.

The Twin Cities are made up of 182 cities and townships, most noticeably those of

Minneapolis and St. Paul. In Figure 1 below, Minneapolis is bordered in purple, while St. Paul is

bordered in green. In this article, I want to describe why I love the Twin Cities’ public spaces

system and later give my opinion on what could be improved. First, lets look at the

demographics of Minneapolis their park system.

Minneapolis, MN- Standing at 58.4 square miles with a population of 387,753,

Minneapolis is divided into six separate districts. Below, Figure

1 The four characteristics were principles of www.globalsiteplans.com

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Figure 1

Figure 2

2 illustrates Minneapolis’ parks system. It contains over 180 parks including: chains of lakes,

gardens, and natural areas. Most impressively, as I will later describe in this article, is

Minneapolis’ Sculpture Garden. Minneapolis has a diverse community with a composition of

61% white, 18.4% black, 10.6% Hispanic, and 5.2% Asian. With such demographics,

Minneapolis’ park system has a challenge trying to meet the four characteristics of successful

parks. However, now I will describe how they were able to succeed with so many challenges.

I want to take a closer look at Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which is located by a red

circle in Figure 2. To me, the Sculpture Garden is the most interesting public space in

Minneapolis. Not only does it abide by all four characteristics of successful public spaces. Figure

3 is an aerial view of the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis. As you can see, it offers many access

points, is aesthetically pleasing, can be utilized for multiple activities, and promotes sociability.

Also, this space represents what Matthew Carmona terms “place differentiation” in that the space

is “responsive and more immediately amendable to change,” (Carmona 125).

With downtown Minneapolis less than 15 minutes away,

this space is responsive to what users need it to be. That is,

a place to enjoy a lunch break or a place for afterschool

activities. The Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis is an

excellent example of why cities need parks and Jane Jacobs

could not have explained this better. “Cities need a variety of

places in which to play and to learn,” (Jacobs 80). What

better space to play and to learn than a sculpture garden with

over 11 acres of land! This is an excellent park in the Twin

Cities and St. Paul offers yet another space similar to the

sculpture garden.

St. Paul, MN- The city of St. Paul is another major city

for the Twin Cities area. Covering 56.18 square miles, St. Paul is divided into seven different

wards. As I analyzed both St. Paul and Minneapolis, I realized they are very similar in size,

composition, and demographics. However, St. Paul covers less area, has a smaller population

(288,448 residents), and is less diverse that Minneapolis. Since St. Paul is smaller, I want to

focus on a smaller neighborhood park.

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Figure 3

Irvine Park is a neighborhood park located southeast of downtown St. Paul. Figure 4

shows an aerial view of Irvine Park. As described above, the Sculpture Garden is such a great

park because of its ability to represent the four

characteristics of successful parks. Irvine Park is so

impressive because of two specific qualities. Jane Jacobs

loves neighborhood parks and writes how these parks are

good, or bad for the area. First, safety is secured because

of intersecting pathways and a well lit evening

atmosphere (Jacobs 34). Secondly, Jacobs says a major

problem with neighborhood parks is due to their inability

to nurture diversified neighborhoods (Jacobs 101).

Interestingly enough, this park has been placed in an area of unified demographics were diversity

is almost nonexistent. St. Paul has created enough parks to provide for neighborhood needs,

while all at the same time encourage connectivity through trails. Irvine Park is what I would

believe to be Jane Jacobs ideal neighborhood park. Although it may not be as lively as she would

insist, Irvine Park is secure and attractive.

Conclusion- It is without a doubt that the Twin Cities exemplify a national award

winning park system. To me, the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis and Irvine Park in St. Paul are

only two of the most interesting parks. However great a public park space be, there will always

be critics. In my opinion, I only see one downfall to this park system. That being numbers of

parks. I know the Twin Cities consist of hundreds of parks, but through some research I have

calculated that the number of acres of parks is less than APA’s recommended acreage.

According to APA’s recommended park size, there should be 1 acre of park for every 66.6666

residents. Minneapolis consists of 387,753 residents and only 5,121 acres of park, which would

be about 650 acres short. Also, St. Paul is worse than this. Consisting of 288,448 residents, St.

Paul currently has 3,452 acres of park, which is almost 1,000 acres short of APA

recommendation. Both of these cities are experiencing 2-3% growth each year. This may not be

much, but in terms of park acres per resident, these numbers could become a larger problem than

we think.

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Figure 4

Parks and open spaces are crucial to cities. Throughout the Jane Jacobs readings, I have

noticed how she stresses safety, diversity, and attractiveness within parks. In my opinion, along

with the research I have collected, the Sculpture Garden and Irvine Park in the Twin Cities is the

most impressive public space.

Below is a collage of pictures for why I find the Sculpture Garden (left) and Irvine Park (right) to be so beautiful and

interesting.

Bibliography:http://globalsiteplans.com/environmental-design/landscape-architecture/successful-public-space-the-minneapolis-

sculpture-garden-in-minnesota-celebrates-its-25th-anniversary/

http://www.mncompass.org/twincities/profile.php?bd=3855#.UkD4juBJBUR

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/210246571.html

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

Public Places Urban Spaces: The Dimension of Urban Design by Matthew Carmona, S. Tiesdell, T. Heath, Taner Oc

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