How do you create a great outdoor place?

Think about what makes a great indoor destination – a memorable, well-defined space, an inspiring creatively-designed room rather than a series of long hallways amid small, compartmentalized spaces. Yet the latter is how most of our streets are designed.

Church Street in Burlington, Vermont is an extremely popular outdoor destination mainly because it doesn’t feel like a street. It feels like a grand room. One side is terminated by a grand building, and either side of the streets are alive with unique buildings, trees, and patrons at the outdoor dining rooms.

Now imagine an endless stream of cars zooming down this street. That’s the typical city street in the U.S., and why so many people eat at strip malls, fast food joints or in front of their TVs. The good news is cities are realizing how wonderful (translates to profitable) these outdoor rooms can be.

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