Understanding Public Spaces: An American Perspective

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Public Space, is essentially a common, open area or space that we as American citizens have the right to go to do as we please. The public space at first glance I see it as place or a thing that is open, urban, easily accessible, free, not exclusive for certain people or privately, and it is a place where “the public” are welcome without privacies. In our country, there are many examples of public spaces: restaurants, public parks, beaches, church, museums, supermarkets, the library, public monuments, schools, stadiums, even graveyards, etc. A public space is not just a literal and physical space; it can be the internet or having social media or something that is not just physical where society members can do as they please. The idea of the …show more content…

Specifically in the piece, “Shaping the Public Sphere: English Coffeehouse and French Salons and the Age of Enlightenment” written by Bonnie Calhoun, is a great example of how Chickies and Petes is connected to the salons and coffee houses as a public space. In the piece by Calhoun makes a strong argument how the English coffeehouse and French salons of the 17th and 18th century served as a public sphere or getaway for all people are welcome to go and enjoy the benefits of a public space. Calhoun compares the similarities of coffeehouses and the salons in the age of the Enlightenment. For example, Calhoun mentions “ three key characteristics were shared by the coffeehouses and salons as public sphere institutions: sociability, equality and communication (Calhoun pg 75).” Calhoun also makes the argument of their many differences in the piece. For example, Calhoun states “Coffeehouses were more open and less structured, with a greater range of social classes and more of an emphasis on print culture. Salons, on the other hand, although they gave an important role to women, were a more private aspect of the public sphere, a mixing of classes that occurred only with an invitation (Calhoun pg 96).” Chickies and Petes as a public space is more similar to the English coffee houses of the 17th and 18th century because of the idea of how it is open and less structured with a range of different

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