Today, I biked around Mexico’s central and historic districts and to my pleasant surprise, numerous parks, plazas, public squares and pedestrian streets awaited me.  

They vary in size from their giant, historic Zocolo where I watched today’s world cup game with thousands of others to a tiny patch of green in one of their many parks. Each one of these places had a place for me to sit, work and people watch. 

Great cities provide places for its citizens to congregate.  Trees that shade and benches that provide a place to sit make these spaces attractive and invite use from a variety of people.  Street vendors give life to the space and provide an extra set of “eyes on the street”.   Water features add a sense of play and wonder.

I can’t help but think what a better city Los Angeles would be if we had more places like this.  Instead of parking lots, why not build more parks? Instead of vacant lots, why not convert them to community gardens? Instead of five-lane wide streets, why not add a green traffic island, wider sidewalks and a bike lane instead?  I’m glad that Los Angeles has begun moving in this direction.