Wooster Landscape Project Group 1

A typical public leisure space would consist of a ‘green’ surrounding followed by benches to allow the community to sit, relax, and appreciate the environment. This area has a memorial statue of a union soldier that lies in the middle of Wooster’s downtown and is surrounded by the courthouse, gazebo, Rubbermaid, and such common public spaces. The town’s priority is to assure and remind the community of its historical means by applying it to the present situation. This environment becomes problematic as the community views this statue as a display instead of the appreciation of Wooster’s history. So the purpose of this leisure public space is not as successful as it is not reaching out to the community to let them know of its history. The intricate architecture, historical surroundings, and the monument adds onto the traditional setting of Wooster and will be appreciated by the community if benches and garden-like feel starts growing around the area.

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This church is found right on campus. It is of beautiful architecture and is by no means an eyesore. It continues the style of the College of Wooster buildings, which is a mild-gothic style. It stands tall above the surrounding houses, showing a sense of empowerment in the community. It is pictured with brick paths chris-crossing in front of it leading up to the massive doors which allow entrance into the building. A great architectural accomplishment leaves this building as a landmark in the community as one of the nicest buildings around.

This is a photo taken of the strip mall down by Wall Mart. In towns not big enough to support a typical indoor mall such as Wooster and many other small towns across America, we see stores grouping together in commercial areas. The land lord benefits greatly because he is receiving the rent, and the stores are benefiting because people come to that area for shopping and are more inclined to spend money on goods. However, unlike a traditional mall which can stand as a landmark, strip malls often come as an eyesore. No grage parking leaves acres of land paved over with black top, and little vegetation to lighten the mood. The areas can often become dirty, crouded, and the parking lanes congested. In Wooster one does not typically see high-end shops. Rent is low and stores such as the “dollar tree” and “Wallmart” occupy the shopping space.

The Wooster City Board of Education instantly reveals a classic structure adapted from the Greek style of architecture. The pillars, steps, geometrically outlined building, and the little intricate details emphasize the state of significance. The structures around this building reflect a typical office space, classy café’s and restaurants. With that in mind, the intricate Greek style architecture reflected in the Wooster City Board of Education stands out from its surroundings. As people walk by and see this structure they can receive a sense of higher power. The Board of Education sets programs and structures that will enhance the education of students. With that they manage the extent of programs in relations to the available resources. A sense of their superiority can be established by the structure of the building and therefore it receives a certain aspect of respect from the community. An interesting fact about this structure is that its style is replicated in other areas of the country. One similar structure is the New York cities General Post Office located in Manhattan (between Eighth Avenue and W 33 Street). A picture example of this is shown in the following website,

http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7074827/new_york_ny/general_post_office_manhattan.html .

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This picture shows Pam and Bill’s. Pam and Bill’s is a grocery store located about a block west of the north end of campus. It vies for student business by putting 5% discount cards in everyone’s school mailbox. As far as I can tell this strategy has met with limited success. I have never shopped there and I know one sophomore who was oblivious to its location until he passed it on a run a month ago. It also has to compete with Wal-Mart and Beuhlers. However its location in a highly residential area may allow it to stay in business as many people buy groceries at the most convenient location. As for college kids it seems that the majority don’t buy much food from stores. As for the structural design, it looks relatively new and bears some resemblance to beuhlers downtown in that they are both brick. It however is a lot more friendly looking than the beuhlers in the strip mall on Milltown road.

This is a house in Wooster. It appears to be a middle class residence. It is a decently sized house with two cars in the driveway. I feel that it is representative of Wooster. Wooster is a largely middle class city. It may have some poverty, and the level of affluence may have gone down when Rubbermaid left but most of the houses seem to be middle class. There are very few mansions in Wooster and almost as few shacks. This seems like a typical Wooster house. Its location, which consists of a mix of businesses and residences north of the College suggest that in this part of town zoning may not be as strict or the community as planned as in other parts of Wooster. The sign in the front yard, advertizing the house as “for sale” may suggest that this is not a desirable place to live, as the housing market has slowed down recently.

            The government has chosen to set up electricity conductors in a residential neighborhood.   An electricity conductor is something that takes a strong electric current from the power plant, and spits it up amongst various power lines.  The power lines then are spread out to houses all over the community providing them with electricity. 

            This unattractive sight can decrease property value by bringing an eyesore to the community. What the government tried to do to improve this situation was to make the operating building look like a typical house. One might be fooled upon first look to think that it actually is just another house on the block. The purpose of the house is made to be unclear, but it is used to regulate the power going through the conductors. This house makes one wonder if the residents complain about the location the power company has chosen. There would be no public use of this, it is most likely owned by a private electric company and would be dangerous to the public. No clues from when this was built or how valuable the property would be if it was used to build more houses.  I am not sure where this is located, but by observing its surroundings it could take place in any residential neighborhood in Wooster. 

The innovative 21st century structure presented in the center intersection of downtown Wooster shows how the community can build support within each other. The tiles presented in this structure are not by famous artists, but are done by the creative developing minds of Wooster’s youth. When people come across this form of architecture, whether by car or walking, the purpose is to present them with the sense of community support. The bench serves as an icon for social interaction while the surrounding garden creates a peaceful ambiance. The intended purpose of this environment reflects a sense of relaxation, but the passing community takes it to a different level by adding together the reality and aspired future for Wooster’s community development. However, this structure hasn’t fulfilled the purpose of its existence. It is definitely a creative way to beautify downtown Wooster, but the passing individuals fail to take time to absorb the environment. If a small function or event were to take place around the tiles empty area, then the community would gather in and find out more about the surrounding. That would get them to appreciate the purpose of such a public space.

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This is a Gazebo in downtown wooster. It represents usage of public space by Wooster. It is a probable attempt to attract more pedestrian traffic and make the downtown a more walker friendly place by giving people a place to stop and sit. While nobody is using it in this picture this picture is probably not a good indicator of the use it recieves as the picture was taken at night on a fairly cold night. This shows how Wooster is trying to use public space to improve their downtown. From what I hear it may be working as this gazebo apparently serves as the locus of town festivals and gatherings. It probably gets a good amount of use on warm days when people are out walking. It clearly makes downtown more appealing. The night view shows that while it may get most of its traffic during the day, it is also aesthetically pleasing at night.

It’s hard to determine the exact age by looking at the picture, but I would say built in the 80’s or 90’s judging by the style. However it could have been built earlier and since then been remodeled. The space is used as condominiums used by residents who most likely rent them out. They are slightly bigger than apartments, and houses residents separately by floor and section.
The purpose is clear and straight forward, the building is used to house people, possibly families as well. The building clearly reflects its purpose, things like wind chimes and plants hung from the balconies hint that people live there year round and that it is a multi family complex. There may be slight tension over its use, I would imagine as more people move into Wooster there is a larger demand for housing. Rent has probably increased over the years and there is going to be tension with people coming in from other communities fighting for the same property.
There appears to be no public use of the site. There is nothing to be used by the public, the property is privately owned and the lawns are most likely reserved for the exclusive use of the tenants. This shows that Wooster also has lower income houses, for those who can’t afford a house and represents the different income demographics which make up Wooster.