Americans are increasingly hungry for Italian piazzas, Spanish plazas, French places, and similar squares around the globe. But the joy of experiencing life in these public squares leaves some American travelers disappointed when they return to the States. As travel abroad has become common for a wider cross-section of Americans, more people have seen what life is like with a large, walkable communal point in towns and cities around the world. But while some American cities have European roots, most don’t have central pedestrian zones where people can gather to stroll, talk and shop. European-style squares, by contrast, are expanses people can walk not just to, but also through and around. The majority of American towns and smaller cities today either don’t have central outdoor communal spaces for socializing or have spaces that are underutilized and neglected.
There is demand for more walkable communities but to carve out that kind of space would require herculean effort, involving the purchase of land, the demolition of buildings and approval to convert precious real estate into pedestrian zones. And it’s not just a matter of building a single piazza. In other countries, one piazza leads to another, and the whole city is connected to other places by public transit. But for some of the Americans who fell in love with squares abroad, there’s no going back to the broader isolation of life in the US. And it’s inspired them to make changes so that a piece of the walkable, sociable lifestyle that piazzas support remains with them. For Ketcham, that means commuting on foot.
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