William H Whyte Findings

1. Location—How far will people walk to urban parks? “The effective market radius is about three blocks”.
2. “Supply creates demand”—The more quality parks, the more users
3. Sociability index – The more groups, the more people. “The high proportion of people in groups … is often because they have decided to go there.” Choice is one measure of success. Groups of people attract more people than singles do.
4. Women—“If a plaza has a markedly lower than average proportion of women, something is wrong…Women are more discriminating.”
5. Peaks—“80% per cent of the total hours of use will be concentrated “ between 11 am and 2 pm.
6. Off peak uses are revealing—When there are lots of sitting choices, those picked reveal what is most popular.
7. Men—Tend to take the front row seats.
8. Lovers—Also out tend to sit in front.
9. “Self congestion” – “What attracts people most…is other people”.  People speak of “getting away from it all” but “what people do reveals a different priority.” People hold conversations in the middle of sidewalks, “they sit in the mainstream” of plazas. They favor crowded places.
10. Other Cities —Behavior in the largest cities (eg. Copenhagen, Tokyo, Milan) reflected New York’s findings.

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