Cupcakes and Corner Benches

I’m not sure why, but cupcake shops are starting to become all the rage now. Even Cincinnati is getting in on the mix.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s a pretty delicious trend. My first foray into this frosted fad found me at Butter Lane in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC this past summer chomping down on what had to be the most delicious cupcake I’d ever eaten.

My friends and I had just finished a nice dinner and had some time to kill before meeting up with another group. We walked down the street and our stomachs guided us to the cupcake shop.

But here’s what’s kind of odd: after getting our first cupcake (yeah, we had to go back for seconds), we couldn’t find a place to enjoy it. There was one small bench outside of the shop that could seat two people comfortably and three elbows-in.

So, my friend and I stood while we let our girlfriends sit on the bench (yes, your humble blogger is a gentleman). We had a good time, despite half of us standing, and it wasn’t for lack of trying that Ryan and I ended up with crumbs running down our shirt. We looked down the block and saw literally no other bench within view. Across the street, there was a small playground, but it was fenced off because it belonged to the apartment complex it was near.

To put it simply: there was no public space within two blocks of where we were.

Compared to Boston, where there were benches on nearly every street and parks galore, New York City appeared to be nothing more than one giant conveyor belt, designed to move people along rather than allow them to congregate.

Public Space = Interaction

Public space has always been a very important function of any city or town, its ultimate goal encourages neighbors to get to know each other as people and not just an "amalgamation of strangers residing in proximity to each other".

Making market streets car-free is one way to foster interaction, but cobblestone walkways alone won't ensure interaction. Benches, statues, and other places to sit need to be a part of the equation, too.

After all, as Aristole once said, "Frequent meetings, encounters and exchanges of ideas among citizens – these qualities of the public realm are a fundamental requirement for citizens' well-being."

Public spaces not only allow for better knowledge of who your neighbors actually are, it helps make you a better citizen in your own neighborhood.

Now that's having your (cup)cake and eating it, too.

dotloop.com