8 replies to this topic

[Icebergalley]

I know that there was some chat about the consultants or seminar leaders from "Project for Public Spaces" earlier this year and that much of it was centred on Centennial Square if I recall correctly...

Their latest newsletter is focusing on:

Place, which explores how buildings can better serve people as public places. Stay tuned to future issues of Making Placesas we delve into important questions about the design and management of buildings today. And don't miss Kathy Madden's ongoing column at Planetizen.com examining these topics.

The feature article is about:

Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever

Here's the link..

http://www.pps.org/i...tter/april2007/

[Ms. B. Havin]

Yes, and in relation to that, did you see [url=http://www.ceosforcities.org/conversations/blog/2007/04/gray_matter_is_the_new_black_o.php:2713d]"Gray matter is the new black of the hip social scene."[/url:2713d], which is from the CEOs for Cities blog (April 17/07) and links to a couple of other articles discussing the same aspect(s)?

Since when did libraries become hot spots for dates? museums become sites of both learning and romance? Since imaginative thinkers began retooling their public programming. Cities' anchor institutions, reports the Washington Post, are quickly being re-discovered by young and old looking to meet someone new or try something different with a long-standing partner: "Thousands of young singles and couples are eschewing the perfunctory dinner and a movie for a growing circuit of late-night museum prowls, Oxford-style debates with pre-feud cocktail parties and book readings with cash bars and after-hour bands."

One such imaginative thinker is Paul Holdengraber, the Director of Public Programming / LIVE at the New York Public Library (and a featured speaker at CEOs for Cities' upcoming National Meeting on Leveraging Anchor Institutions for Urban Success).

"'Let's face it, there really is nothing more sensual than caressing someone's mind,' said Paul Holdengräber, who launched the library's live lecture series that is now a staple of New York's 'intellidating' scene. Two years ago, the average age at library lectures was 68. It is now 41 and falling, driven down partly by a new crop of cutting-edge guests including underground cartoonists Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb and director Jonathan Demme.

"'Our ears are a very sensitive place,' Holdengräber said, 'and lectures give our crowd not only something to listen to, but something to discuss all evening long. You say a lecture isn't romantic? I say but of course it is.'"

Click through to the blog entry to get the other links he posted.

[Holden West]

Imagine an intimate lecture hall for talks, readings, film festivals.

Imagine a facility that residents and staff would be proud to walk into.

Imagine a library that is light and airy, a magnet for learning, meeting people and just hanging out.

I can imagine it. Can our politicians?

[Ms. B. Havin]

I can imagine it. Can our politicians?

See, it all depends on whether they're interested in social connections, social cohesion. As someone once said to me, on the subject of meeting people (potential lovers) in bars (or similar venues): "After all, what do you have in common with them aside from the bar?"

I've known some great bars, and there's nothing wrong with having a bar "in common." But it's also nice to diversify. It's nice to have "the library" in common, for example. Or "the art gallery," or ...? Fill in the blank.

The point is that cities are made up of people mixing and mingling, and you want some choices for how that's done. There're some platforms that allow for a deeper understanding of what a person is like or interested in, and that can make for a more (excuse the trite & tired word) sustainable relationship. There's a reason people who went to school together (whether high school or college) marry -- the school setting provides a platform. We need diversity in our platforms, especially given that we have populations beyond college age in Victoria.

So, in answer to the question: do the politicians get it?, I don't know. Maybe some of them do, but there's a whole segment that doesn't seem to...

[Holden West]

See, it all depends on whether they're interested in social connections, social cohesion.

I think if you were to ask the average CRD politician their thoughts on social connections and social cohesion, they'd give you a funny look. You know, that expression a dog has when you look at him and say, "Where's the ball?"

[Ms. B. Havin]

^ Gawd, I hope some of them chasin' that ball find this forum!!

[m0nkyman]

/me quietly daydreams about a bar in a library. *sigh*

[G-Man]

Wow all of you have great visions.

You know nice little pub where you could read a book or plot a revoloution would be a perfect part of a library:)

[Caramia]

All part of the orgasmic city... INFOGASM!

A debate or lecture or learning opportunity sounds like an awesome date to me. You get to see something of the person's nature and intelligence, both hugely important traits in a mate.