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Due to the rainy weather conditions, there were less people that were there than usual. Furthermore, it was a Wednesday morning, so many people would be at work. Once we arrived, we saw a class of Jewish day students by the entrance of the park where they were playing soccer. As we walked further along the trail, we noticed many tourists walking slowly and taking pictures of the scenery, especially by the statue of Balto. We also walked by the Shakespeare Statue, where one or two people were looking at it. At this time of day, there were also many dog walkers. There were some joggers and bicyclists, and people exercising. We spotted a few nannies, although there were fewer than we predicted. At the Tots playground, we saw kids playing around with their actual parents. We walked by a cafe called Le Pain Quotidien, where people were drinking coffee or eating breakfast. On the area along the walkway to the Bethesda terrace, there were many vendors selling portraits, posters, and art. On this road, many tourists sat on the benches where the food carts were nearby. By the terrace, there were many tourists on horse carriages. Under the terrace, tourists were watching a band play music. Some tourists bought food from the food carts. At the fountain, people sat along the edges of the fountain and along the ridges of the lake. Some people were rowing boats, and we saw one man fishing. On the 65th Street traverse, we saw one man walking from the west to the east side.
As can be seen from the map, the most common activities on this overcast, cool day in Central Park were tourists taking pictures exploring, people traveling through, recreation and people sitting on benches. The colored indicators show the high occurrence of each of these activities as compared to other social activities. We observed the most people around the Balto statue and at the Bethesda Fountain. The Balto statue is situated along an intersection where people would pass by, so many people would stop, look, and take pictures of the statue. There were a lot of people at the fountain because it is one of the well-known landmarks in Central Park. It is a famous fountain in popular culture, where many shows and movies were filmed. Furthermore, there is a large circular space where people can gather in big groups. At most of our locations, it was likely to see New Yorkers using the park to travel to another destination. Recreational activities—playing soccer, playing in the playground and using the rowboats—were a substantial use of the park even on a cloudy day.
As we have observed, people tended to congregate around statues/attractions and where there were places to sit. If we compare the two statues, Balto and Shakespeare, it is evident that Balto receives more attraction due to its location. Unlike the Shakespeare statue, Balto is situated along an intersection where people walk along and can pass by easily. Because of its convenient place, more people will be likely to stop and take pictures of it. On the other hand, the Shakespeare statue is more isolated across a larger space. Furthermore, it is in the middle of the park, where there are no other identifiable landmarks, thus, people would have less of an incentive to visit this statue. In addition, people generally hang out and walk near the perimeters of the park, especially around the entrances and exits. For instance, there were kids playing soccer right near the entrance of 65th street. There are noticeably less and less people deeper in the park, unless they are at a specific landmark (like the Bethesda Fountain). Along with people density around statues and attractions, people tended to spend time where there were places to sit—particularly benches and the fountain edge.
It is necessary to view our data in the context of the environment in which it was gathered; the footage in Whyte’s film, after all, seemed to have been captured in relatively pleasant weather. We, on the other hand, made our observations on a wet, chilly morning with a gray sky that constantly threatened rain. Needless to say, this greatly impacted the data we gathered.There are some weather conditions that compel people to the outdoors just for the sake of being outdoors; this weather was not that weather and so while the park was by no means empty it was considerably less utilized than it would be if it had been warmer and sunnier. In the early morning there seemed to be three main types of people: dog-walkers, joggers and tourists. While technically all three of these activities count as leisure, it should be noted that all three groups were there with a personal mission: the dog walkers to exercise their pets, the joggers to exercise themselves and the tourists to see a cultural landmark. These were all activities that took place along paths as opposed to through fields or other open spaces.
Presumably because they were only able to spend a limited amount of time in the city, tourists had the most impetus to visit the park despite the poor weather and this was reflected in the demographics we recorded. While we did witness businessmen eating lunch later in the day, we saw primarily tourists. The tourists engaged in a wide range of activities including taking pictures, basic strolling/sightseeing, public displays of affection and chasing pigeons.This prevalence of tourists perhaps contributed to the traverse being one of the more heavily populated spots we saw, as many modes of transportation on the traverse cater to tourists. We witnessed many horse carriages, rickshaws, taxis and foreigners on rented bicycles. This is notable because it meant that people preferred staying dry and having a limited tour of the Park to getting wet and/or lost in an attempt to delve further in, or that they had no desire to go deeper into the park. Regardless, it signaled that populations tend to be higher near pathways and perimeters than in fields or other areas that are less easily navigable.
A primary concern for those in Central Park, at least on a Wednesday morning, is that exertion of effort is kept to a minimum and that movement be efficient. Thus, people tended to stay along the major routes of traffic and towards the perimeter of the park so as to guarantee that they did not waste time or energy. There seemed to be a lack of unpurposed wandering, with people going places with the intention of doing something.
People are drawn to structures; this is particularly true of tourists and on rainy days. Benches were doubly appealing to many people because they offered not only a place to sit and rest but a place to sit and rest near a pathway (or in the case of the Benches near Bethesda fountain, a destination). While not heavily populated Wednesday morning, the area is usually busy. Bethesda fountain is popular because it presents itself as an idyllic backdrop for tourists to lunch, rest and take pictures. People can not only admire the architecture, but they can do so while sitting on the fountain rim and eating a churro from a nearby stand (which they did). Bethesda also offers novelty recreation in the form of taking rowboats out onto the pond, and perhaps by extension the novelty recreation of watching rowboats on the pond. The fountain is successful in garnering human interaction because features ample room for lounging and allows for you to touch the water (it’s always nice to be able to touch the water); we saw this when we observed a high school group led by a teacher.
The number of people congregating in such places compounds because others come to offer services to the crowds. Food vendors often set up in places with heavy foot traffic because these areas attract the most potential customers, and in turn more people tend to frequent these areas because they know food is readily available there. Likewise, musicians tend to pick crowded areas because it will afford them the most listeners and, they presumably hope, the most patrons.
Statues also held appeal, but this was affected to a large degree by their accessibility; as pointed out before, Balto is far more popular than Shakespeare. This is not only because Balto, situated near the perimeter, is more geographically accessible than Shakespeare, situated towards the middle, but because Balto is physically more accessible. It’s relative smallness, the prime seating it offers and the fact that it is easily climbed by most people makes interaction with the Balto statue relatively constant; over and over again, people sit on it or stand next to it so often that the statue’s back and ears are shinier than the rest of the piece.
On our walk over to the West Side, we also came across the Tots playground, which was heavily populated. The farther West we headed, the more children seemed to be supervised by well-off parents than by nannies. At the Tots playground, for example, we saw many affluent-looking adults playing with young children. The playground had the amenities that a playground usually does, and the children were using the swings and such in the manner that children normally do. The parents were socializing with each other to various degrees, with some engaging in what seemed to be extended conversation while others focused solely on the children they were with. The children followed a similar pattern of varied socialization. The playground was popular because it was made specifically for children to interact with. The same can be said for the petting zoo.
While the case is certainly different on a beautiful day, the fields were literally empty except the mowers cutting grass. Our study was also disrupted by the closing off of the field for maintenance, but even when it did seem to be open no one was on it. The weather was ill-suited to the activities people generally partake in in Sheep’s Meadow, such as sunbathing or playing Frisbee. Nobody wants to lay in wet grass. The wide courtyards also lost their appeal in such weather, as far fewer people were there than would be expected. With the exception of Bethesda Fountain, the function and usage of wide open spaces with nothing in them is heavily dependent on the weather; in sun, such areas are welcomed but in worse weather they are bleak and generally neglected in favor of the pathways and perimeters.
The central conclusion of Whyte’s analysis of urban planning concerned the utilization of urban spaces based on their location and construction. Whyte postulated that broad open spaces with a lack of seating were not conducive to a persistant presence of pedestrians. He insisted that in order for a public space to “work” the design needed to be from the bottom up; the way people use spaces must be considered and understood before the building of those spaces. Based on the data we collected, central park is rather successful in its design and the only potential improvement would be the construction of additional sitting areas for people. Though the weather was not optimal for acute observations, the park seemed to foster a range of activities and served its purpose well, essentially needing minimal improvements.
Owen makes the argument that Central Park serves as a barrier and impedes movement horizontally across the city. He claims that large, open spaces like those found in Central Park discourage pedestrian traffic, and compares the space in Central Park busy sidewalks found in other areas of the city. He notes, as does Whyte, that the majority of popular areas are surrounded by storefronts and lively attractions. Tall buildings, varied scenery, and the presence other people, Owen argues, make a location much more inviting and easy to walk through. He compares the distance across Central Park to the distance from Grand Central to Times Square, noting that although the distances are similar, few people are comfortable walking through Central Park even though they would gladly walk down the livelier street.
Our findings seemed to support this. Walking throughout the park, we found very few pedestrians that seemed to be using the roads to get from one side of the city to the other. Most people we saw walking tended to be tourists, while the rest of the people we saw were jogging and exercising. We saw almost no professionals at all (though our timing might not have been perfect). The lone exception was a few businessmen around an area near a cafe, which only corroborates with Owen’s statement that storefronts will attract more kinds of people. Walking near the busier paths found in the park, it was immediately evident that ordinary pedestrians were not using it. The people we saw on these paths were jogging, biking, or driving, and the only people walking seemed to be tired joggers.
Furthermore, we found that the lack of a grid layout made the park harder to travel through. In order to find the pedestrian transverse road, it is necessary to walk along winding, sloping roads that waste time. These roads are also placed so that the scenery prevents you from seeing where the road is leading, discouraging people that are not familiar with the area. We also checked the 65th street transverse, the most direct path across the park. Though it is faster to walk along this road than through the park, the sidewalk was completely deserted apart from a lone man that soon disappeared ahead of us. The transverse can only be accessed from the exits of the park (unless you climb up a wall) and the dark lighting, foreboding bridges, lack of other people, sense of danger, and uncomfortable proximity of the cars provide a barrier for possible pedestrians.
Owen also makes the argument that only the edges of Central Park get used, while the middle of the park, where people on the sidewalk cannot see, is a dead zone. He argues that people tend to shy away from isolated areas and dislike walking through vegetation in order to get to their destination. Our findings seemed to support this, as areas closer to the edges of the park seemed to be more lively. Areas nearer to the center, on the other hand, such as the walkways around Sheep Meadow, had very little foot traffic. Long, broad walkways such as the Mall were also very lightly used, with few people sitting on the many benches lining the area. This trend of congregation near the edges of the park was further highlighted by the presence or absence of children. Owen argues that large, open, and isolated spaces within the park will seem more dangerous, and we found that children were more likely to be playing near the entrances, which seems to support his case.
Although we only saw certain areas of Central Park at a very specific time of the day, it is still reasonable to conclude that people would prefer to walk the distance from Grand Central to Times Square rather than across the winding park. Without collecting quantitative statistical evidence, our observations did seem to support Owen’s argument that Central Park serves as a barrier.
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