Urban Renaissance with Mermaids: Lawrence Halprin’s Ghirardelli Square

Ghirardelli Square

Courtesy of Fairmont Heritage Place

Today we know that the revival of the urban inner city begins with the restoration and re-use of old buildings. Cities that have preserved their old downtowns and industrial districts find in them the seeds to begin anew. Seeking community, people and businesses from Brooklyn to Portland to Oakland now flock to restored buildings to make their homes or to build businesses—eschewing suburbia for urban buzz.