COMMONS SECTION Fanfare for the Commons -Jonathan Rowe Defending The Genetic Commons (print only) -Andrew Kimbrell United We Hang Out -Jay Walljasper Light In Oxford -Rob Gurwitt How to Turn a Place Around (print only) YOUR THOUGHTS What do you think? We're eager to find great places we don't know about. Send us your thoughts on the best public places across America (Canada and Mexico, too), and we'll add to our list in a future issue. Send to Best Places, Utne Reader, 1624 Harmon Place,Minneapolis, MN. 55403 or editor@utne.com Discuss public places in the Cities forum at Cafe Utne: cafe.utne.com

By creating Yellowstone National Park in 1872, the United States established a tradition of recognizing and protecting natural wonders. To this day, our national parks, monuments, historic sites, wildlife preserves, recreation areas, and wilderness areas remain a rich inheritance shared by all Americans.

But as a country we have not shown the same kind of concern for the places most of us spend time day-to-day. The soul of America is found not just in purple mountain’s majesty, but also corner coffee shops, neighborhood playgrounds, and Main Streets. Our local hangouts are too often neglected, growing shabby and unappealing, as so much of America’s resources are funneled into the private pursuits of home and business. But now, as a new sense of unity sweeps through the land, it’s time to recognize the value of all the places where we come together as neighbors, citizens, friends. So in the spirit of celebrating what’s great about this land, we feature on the following pages a list of 60 great public places in America—an eclectic assortment of favorite hangouts from Key West to Seattle.

In drafting the list, we drew upon the work of the Project for Public Spaces, a national advocacy group, and Gianni Longo’s book A Guide to Great American Public Places, as well as suggestions from friends around the country and happy memories of our own travels. We define the idea of public place broadly here, ranging from rib joints to the Grand Canyon, art museums to Coney Island. Our only firm criterion was that these places must be open to everyone at no more than a modest cost.