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I loved this section for its promotion of partying and socializing - those things which, in my opinion, make us must human but are so often ignored or hidden. The realistic approach of the authors is so refreshing, even though the book was written decades ago.
Pattern 30: Activity Nodes
I despise malls and shopping centers. How awful is it to have to drive to one place and park to do all your shopping there but not experience any variation? However, as is pointed out at the beginning of the pattern, it does no good to scatter a community's necessary shops and offices away from each other. A healthy compromise is necessary. The group of shops and important official areas centered around a more social, less parking lot-like square sounds like a great example of such a compromise. It's also a nice idea, as presented in the pattern, to group these places by their symbolic and realistic connections to one another.
Pattern 31: Promenade
One of my most excited moments in Europe was when I first entered Las Ramblas in Barcelona. My memories of the tons of bustling people, street performers, shops, and open air markets will always stick with me as the perfect way to get people together in a fun way with no particular reason but to be around people. There's a feeling of excitement just because there's so much you CAN do, even if you're there to do nothing. It's important, however, to not make the promenade larger than is realistic for the area and to make sure that housing nearby is possible. The 20 minute, 1500 foot limit discussed in the pattern seems fair, and research is used to back it up.
Pattern 33: Night Life
I guess the patterns that are most important to a section might be grouped together intentionally, and the activity nodes pattern mentions night life and promenades as important to it, but I still feel funny using three patterns that are so closely grouped within the book. Nonetheless, as a 25 year old male, night life is very important to me. I'm not a huge partier, but I love being able to travel not too far to a central location and stroll to open-at-night shops, restaurants, bars, and galleries. An outdoor area for warmer nights adds even more fun to that. The pattern recommends at least six night life centers within a very short distance of each other, and that seems like a good estimate, depending on the size of the community of course. In Winston Salem, Burke St. has several bars and a pizza place, and the Trade Street/Sixth Street "Arts District" has some bars, galleries, and a coffee shop. The Arts District also has "First Friday" the first Friday of each month, when the galleries and shops are open late to complement the feeling of community and "something to do" that evening. I try to make it as often as possible.
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