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ST. LAWRENCE PARK
OBSERVATIONS
DEMOGRAPHICS
PORTIONS OF USED SPACES
USERS ACTIVITIES
TIMES SPENT IN SPACES
PEOPLE ALONE OR IN A GROUP
GROUND SURFACES
PUBLIC FURNITURE
FIXED ELEMENTS
NATURAL ELEMENTS
TEMPORARY ELEMENTS
- There are two paths that follow parallel to the waterfront, both are separated by a level change and grass. Perpendicular to these paths is the waterfront that many people admired. Both of these path are concrete.
- Grass hugs either side of the concrete paths, the patch of grass in front of the buildings barely got used as it was open. It felt awkward to walk across the grass, let alone sit in the middle, which made it barely used. The other patch of grass that is hugged by both paths is where the majority of interactions occurred and where most people wanted to be as it was firstly closer to the waterfront view, but was not as big
- Majority of the sitting area was by the second path overlooking the water. The ledge that is directly in front of the water had rails, but they took them out allowing for another space to sit
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- The large space of grass created a nice place for families to play with their kids but during the whole day there was only one family that used it
- The space was also used for people to sit on the grass to read, eat, and just lie down. If people used this space, it was only around the perimeter.
- There was a lot of different seating areas from hard and soft surfaces. Hard surfaces in the park were the man made constructive surfaces like the steps, ledges and rocks that were place strategically. Soft surfaces included the grass
- There were many trees planted in the areas to not only provided shade for sunny days but also for people would sit around the, or would sit close to them as it provide comfort for most.
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- The landscape was directed towards view the water. As movement moved perpendicular to the water, the horizontal landscape created a nice contrast allowing people to want to stay longer.
- There were trees that were strategically placed which created nice places to sit with shadows. They were planted around the perimeter of green space and in between different surface to create divisions
- Wasn’t many “natural elements” as it appears that many of the features of the site were imposed to enhance the area. They also used to be a mill factory, so they site was a revitalization for the area
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- There was a man that perform music for the people using the park. He played guitar by the square that attracted people to the area to watch him. As a result, many people heard him from the street, and it allowed more people to come and see the site.
- Other than the performance, there were no longer temporary elements.
- A possible temporary element could be to host events in the square as it is large enough to attract people for a farmers
market.
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- Most of the elements were fixed elements that could not be moved. However that did not stop many people from bring their own, blankets to lie down on, or lawn chairs to sit on the grass.
- There were fixed elements on the site, like the large rocks that were placed for seating surrounding the beach and the gazebo
- There was also a monument at the site for its historic past, as the site was once a mill. Children would play on it, and adults used the space a intimate seating area.
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- The people that were at the park where mostly families, greater than 3. They had children that were roughly around 2
years old to 14 years old. These kids were able to play around the park on there own as their parents did not need to
supervise them. The children at the site did not need toys to keep them entertained as they used the existing landscape
as a playground.
-There were also groups of people that were mixed in gender between the ages of 15-25 years old. They appeared to
have come from the main street as many brought food to the park to enjoy the view. They were often in larger groups
walking and sitting around. Some stayed for 10-15 minutes walking by, while others stayed for about 1 hour using the
benches to talk.
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-The park had a large open green space that connected to the sidewalk, a slanted green space that also connected to the bottom sidewalk creating a open view to the waterfront.
- Everyone was spread out as their was plenty of room for people to sit. The only place someone needed to wait and sit
was at the site in the gazebo benches. Otherwise, the design lended for people to sit on rocks as they are huge. The rocks were placed by the city to prevent flood tides in the area.
- There were rocks around the entire site that give people a place to sit. Rock are placed on the beach, and surrounding
the gazebo.
- In the square, there were barely people there. People tend to use the space as a walkway to the rest of the park. There is a condominium beside the square, that has no access to the square.
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- People used the space in different ways, many people used the space as a walkway to get just get across the park. Typically they would stay for about 10-15 minutes to look at the view then leave.
-May people also used the pathways for their daily exercise of biking, running or walking.
- Most people tended to stay for longer period of time, between 30 minutes to 1 hour. They would either be with friend or on their own sitting on the grass underneath a tree or sitting on one of the benches.
-In one instance, there was a family that used the open grass area however, did not stay long. They family stayed to kick around a ball for about 30 minutes then left.
- People would usually be in groups of 2 or more but it was rare it exceeded more than 4 unless a bigger family came. But this park was a place, that people felt comfortable being on their own.
- If people were on their own, they would have been sitting reading a book, or just looked at the view. These people tended to stay for as long of period as those who where in groups.
- People that were in groups, of mixed gender. They were not a obviously indication of a specific gender that occupied the space more.
- There were also people in pairs, also mixed in gender, that used the park for their own stroll, or to look at the view.
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- There were people walking, talking, sitting, biking, running, mostly along the main path. People sat on the grass with
others or by themselves.
- Many people would walk along the path and then stop for a bit to talk, if they were with other people, or stopped to
look at the view and then continue walking.
- People would sit on the grass, on the benches or on the ledge. People sat wherever they could as people may people
did not want to get near each other due to Covid-19. The park gave plenty of options to sit that either facing the water
or space that were more isolated like the square.
- One family was playing soccer on the grass, however it did not seem like a common space to use as that was the only
observation
- People would also bring food to the park and eat their lunch there. Many people brought Harvey’s or Wendy’s to the
area as it was on the main street.
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MAPPING
DATA COLLECTION
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