Downtown – Glassboro, New Jersey
Glassboro owes much of its explosive growth due to close proximity to Rowan University. A major Nexus Properties multi-family development has greatly enhanced the residential population in and around downtown. This in turn has driven market dynamics supportive of businesses locating here.
The center focal point of the development is an open space that serves as a mashup of a great lawn and a plaza with hardscape paving.
A circle of brightly colored Adirondack chairs encourage social gathering.
An urban beach with picnic table sand umbrellas and more rows of Adirondack chairs further encourages outdoor dining and gathering.
This semi-transparent metal frames have the oversized letters spelling “ARTS” set within them. Perhaps they are intended for some outdoor gallery or performance space?
Finally, the great lawn provides ample room for people to spread out and enjoy the open space.
We arrived on Memorial Day in Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, just as a bagpiper was playing. Interestingly the event and crowd gathered on the edge of the space, one of the truisms of placemaking.
Local Businesses
Glassboro Arts has a dedicated space with a lively tile mosaic on their facade.
Sid’s Discount Outlet is an increasing rarity, focused on women’s fashions.
Landmark Americana Tap & Grill was the more formal dining option, appealing to the university crowd and visitors.
Rowan University
Connectivity of the university to the small grouping of businesses was a challenge in Glassboro. Long, narrow sidewalks, some winding and others angular, some paved in concrete and others in brick pavers, made for a disjointed experience. Nothing really said walk this way. More thought and effort could be put into what Jeff Speck calls the “interesting walk” with more trees, places to stop and sit, and interesting landmarks along the way to draw pedestrians along. The angles and curves at best were incidental to avoid utility poles and other infrastructure.
One of the surest signs of unsympathetically designed public spaces are the insertion of call boxes. They give the illusion of safety and security, while revealing the unsafety of an area and the relatively few eyes on the street. Few experiences are more horrifying than being so scared as to need to place a call from one of these boxes and then to wait for a response.
Once getting to Rowan University proper the campus was more legible with a gateway sign and large campus buildings spaced apart from one another.
