The new plaza on Las Olas Boulevard is nearing completion, a small but integral piece of land over the Kinney Tunnel that, despite its size, will have a street running through it: SE 6th Avenue. The street was there before but I assumed that the plaza would eliminate it. That, really, is the definition of a plaza: a space free of traffic for people to congregate in. The City of Fort Lauderdale has spent over a year and millions of dollars to construct a plaza that will have cars passing through it. I was puzzled when the ground floors of the riverfront condos filled with gyms and conference rooms instead of restaurants and cafes – à la San Antonio – but that was a (mostly) missed opportunity beyond the city’s control. This latest downtown development is a corruption of public space – new, planned, landscaped public space – that is beyond comprehension.
