The Atlantic Cities is hoisting Millennium Park as poster child for the pitfalls of private financing for public parks. The issues: sustainability of funding sources; corporatization of public space; and abuse of rights to said space. Stingy public financing in both construction and upkeep has produced this model, in use all over the country. "If we are dealing with a public park, ideally the public pays for its construction and maintains it at a high level," says Harvard Prof Jerold Kayden. "But we know empirically for a variety of reasons that hasn't happened." Millennium Park's lasting legacy now must include corporate naming, ongoing TIF financing, and, indirectly, the parking garage deal and its woeful consequences. [Atlantic Cities]
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