Downtown – Highland Park, New Jersey
Highland Park, located in Middlesex County, is a community with a design forward feeling – especially when it comes to public spaces.
This playful public art project fills an otherwise blank wall. The colorful figures bring a sense of excitement and energy to the downtown.
No detail is too small to escape notice. These customized metal tree grates bring a geometric element to the streetscape. Further, they ensure that the sidewalk remains level with the tree wells that are slightly recessed below the level of the sidewalk.
Benches are set at right angles to one another, creating outdoor areas for public gathering. Colorful paving further defines these spaces as outdoor rooms.
The concrete planters are generally square shaped, except for the lower corners that have a portion carved away to give them a sculptural quality.
Despite the design forward examples, sections of the downtown had spot vacancy.
Perhaps the greatest innovation in Highland Park is happening not in a storefront, but in the farmers market area. Movable furniture, food trucks, plantings, and games are but a few of the place activation elements that are used.