The place on the map from assignment 1.2 is called “Monument Square” and it is a centrally located public square in Portland, Maine. I chose “Monument Square” because I have spent lots of time there through school. I attended Portland High School, which is a block away from the square. Students at Portland High are allowed to leave the building during their lunch hour to spend some time outside and buy lunch from a local restaurant if they want to. Monument Square offers a great place to sit and eat outside and lots of places to get food are right on the square. Monument square is located alongside Congress street, arguably the most important street in Portland since it runs through the middle of the whole city. I take congress street from my house in the suburbs to the heart of downtown and monument square. Monument square is also surrounded by Elm street, Center street, Federal street, and Preble street.
There are several reasons why Monument Square is one of several important public areas in the city of Portland. The buildings and businesses around Monument Square are what make it such an important place. There is a large high school, the largest branch of the public library, the main center of the Portland bus system, a movie theatre, and a parking garage all either touching or within eyesight of the square. These three important institutions ensure that people are constantly walking across or spending time in the square. To complement these places there are many businesses. The Time and Temperature building which is probably the highest in Portland can be seen from all around and contains several corporate businesses. One City Center is the address of several businesses including several banks. In order to sustain the corporate world that exists around Monument Square there are a number of cafes and a fedex office as well. One other aspect of the square is that it is a place used for some events, marches, parades, and a very small farmers market once a week. Many people in suits or semi-formal attire can be seen in cafes or walking to the parking garage. During the summer tourists can be seen visiting the square and surrounding area. Students are seen during the middle of the day lounging around the middle of the square on benches or physically sitting up against the monument. The other major demographic of people that can be seen are homeless people. The Preble Street Resource Center is only a couple of streets away and it includes a shelter and a food pantry. Oftentimes homeless people will be around the square or near the library since it is a public place they can go to. The bus station serves as transport for many students and also homeless people or people without easy access to cars.
Since Monument Square is a public, centrally located space the way it is used is much different than a house in a suburb. There are some apartments near monument square but they are mostly either very expensive or extremely cheap. The closer one gets to the ocean front the more expensive because of the view. The cheaper apartments and housing are located near or around the homeless shelter. Almost all housing in Portland is suburban. Monument Square is interesting in that it is not in the heart of the downtown area but instead in between the heart and where the city starts to turn into houses and suburbs. Portland as a city developed from the ocean inwards, which can be seen from the architecture of the streets and downtown near the water. Monument Square marks a slight transition from that older style towards a more modern part of that downtown.
Monument square is also arguably the center of a neighborhood in the sense that it is a gathering place for the people who live in the cheaper more hip apartments as well as hotels. If it is examined following what we have learned I would say that Monument Square lies between the urban center and a zone of transition in portland. Monument Square is a good case study for me because it is a place I know well enough but have never thought deeply about how it functions as part of a city.
