The CoolTown water test
Take one city model, pour water over it, tilt slightly. How much water is left? Use the same principle for people.
The mark of a truly great city is that it not only has great third places indoors, but outdoors as well. This was easy to provide in pedetrian-oriented cities, but difficult in auto-oriented cities where much of the outdoor space was already taken up by roads and parking lots.
In the Nolli Plan of Rome below (one of the most famous plans in history, where you’ll find it on living room walls, wrapping paper and ties), not only will you see a lot of ‘water’ collected after ’tilting’, but you’ll see it on just about every single block! What makes this cool? In terms of people, this translates to an abundance of conversing, laughing, playing, performing, dancing, flirting, dining and the quiet reassurance that “life is good”.
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