Common Spaces

The instinct to gather runs deep in human nature.  We are social creatures after all, and this side of ourselves needs space for informal and spontaneous expression.

The first Europeans in America built their settlements around town commons.   The zocalo, or town square, is a fixture of local Mexican culture.  (There are people here in West Marin who met their spouses at one of these.)  Even markets, which define the psyche of our culture,  first arose in the public squares that surrounded Medieval churches.

The conviviality came first.  Commerce and money-making emerged later, and eventually subsumed the mother that bore them.

Today, in cities and towns worthy of the name, there are still inviting common spaces in the flow of daily life — from Copley Square in Boston and Pioneer Square in Portland, to the village green right down the road in Stinson Beach. These are places where people can gather and chat, play chess or watch their kids, or just sit and read or watch the parade of life go by.

They are essential to community.  We are more likely to join together in common cause, if we know one another first.   As life retreats into the electronic cocoons of iPods and the Web, it becomes especially important to have actual places and spaces in which our lives can intersect

The time is ripe to create a village green in Point Reyes Station.   We have apt unbuilt spaces, on and near Main Street; and a growing culture of  serendipitous encounter that is fostered by the Bovine Bakery, Toby’s Coffee Bar, the Post Office, and numerous other local fixtures.

West Marin Commons is working with others in town to acquire a lot that would become our village green and gathering place.   We have a grant from the Marin Community Foundation to begin a local planning process that includes the members of our community whose views are not always heard, such as Latinos.  While that process continues, we are working to enrich the commons culture in spaces that already are available.

Commons California Native Plant Garden at the Livery Stable

Early in 2007, West Marin Commons set to work with Marshall Livingston, who owns the Livery Stable building in Point Reyes Station, to create a common garden space there.
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Mesa Road Pathway

For years, a public right-of-way along Mesa Road, behind Toby’s Feed Barn and the Building Supply store, was overgrown with weeds and brush. Many residents didn’t know that the right-of-way was even there. Then the new toddler playground and public restrooms were installed across the road, and the need for a walkway out of traffic became urgent.
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Place Making Initiative: A Village Green or Zocalo

A commons, a community gathering place – free and open to all – is something not to take for granted. A village green or square is a natural crossroads that invites a mixing of diverse communities and builds a sense of inclusion in daily life, a locus for providing and meeting needs.
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