How on Earth is SITTING DOWN not acceptable!?!?

Also, what if someone were not to see the step and trip up? Because some clever fellow’s not installed a handrail because some one might “lean on it” they fall flat on their face.

Why bother wasting your time devising new ways to make youths live even harder?

Also, when young people loiter, how is that “anti-social”? they are surrounding themselves with friends! They may be escaping broken homes, or just enjoying friends in a stress-free enviornment.

I must also echo the arguments of others, if things were done to cause discomfort to a certain race or gender, the whole country would be up in arms, defending the people.

Treating young people as delinquents will only make it worse. If people are accepted by society, they are more likely to behave accoring to social standards. Keep in mind, that today’s youth will be paying for today’s adults’ social security/health care tomorrow…

(sorry for the long-windedness, I was quite indignant about this)

Although I dont understand the theory of taking away things kids do that are in public and not disruptive, you will not accomplish it. They will just sit in the grass next to the steps. Give them something to do or a place to go that doesnt cost anything, since they dont have jobs or money that is what it seems they are trying to do anyway. Oh, wait, there is no money in that, why would anyone do that.

Insane.

Not only create facing benches (perhaps tripartite to avoid any subliminal polarisation – no design is without effect), but have a range of such social spaces, perhaps all the way up to public debating spaces – ooh, dangerous.

And by all means extract multiple use out of the same facilities, e.g. concave stone terraces as both sociable seating and functional steps, or auditoriums for public congregation, debate, and theatrical performance.

Perhaps the Victorians instilled in all of our worthies the idea that public spaces should be serene and admired for their vacant aesthetic, than utilised as places where the public can meet, converse, and entertain each other. Moreover, that the least desirable people in public spaces are children, who should be seen and not heard.

There is an obscure location in the town of Lewes (Castle Precincts car park) where three stone benches lie in a circle. Being in a gloomy out of the way location rather than a centre piece of the town, it is more popular with hardy youngsters than frail adults.

That would make sense if the same problem behaviours didn’t occur where plenty of facilities are available. Then more excuses are brought forth.

Anyone who’s interested in seeing how this pans out or who may be able to help is welcome to join. You don’t have to be local. Sign up to preserve good public space and oppose the demonisation of young people.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14791498321

A park bench insists upon a certain number of people, facing a certain direction (as a rule, the more form fitting a bench is the less you can address anyone except someone facing straight in front of you). They are often built facing gravel or grungy concrete sidewalks, which limits the number of people willing to sit on the ground.
It seems as though most park benches are built for two people to sit on, neither one interacting with the other, and both either alone, or addressing a younger person directly in front of them (as why would one similarly aged person get better seating than another? The lone exceptions are chess-style seating (two benches facing each other with a low table in between), or picnic benches. Both are decent, but are best as one option among many. Also see imaginative solutions like Vienna’s Museum’s Quarter seating.

Steps, on the other hand, have infinitely expandable seating. While they are still oriented, there is still greater flexibility in directions you can face, poses you can sit in, and ability to re-seat if you want to talk to a specific audience. The format lends itself to multiple small groups of people that can form and disintegrate as needed. Steps are also a communal location in a larger sense: a place where you can meet new people, chat with old friends, and be continually informed of the events of the day.
My favorite memories of Rome are of the Spanish Steps. My favorite memories of Paris are of talking to people on the steps around Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, and the steps of the Pantheon.

Having said all that, I understand that steps are not specifically designed with my age group in mind. Certainly people should be able to walk up and down them. But if walking past young people is somehow a problem, even if they clog up these particular steps, then I’d say that the steps are the symptom, not the cause, and dealing with this “problem” is only going to make something worse pop up somewhere else. Don’t punish kids for being aware that architecture aids them in their development as caring, social beings.

~Crash