Instant Icon: City Garden Gives St. Louis a Signature Public Space and More

City Garden is what the St. Louis Arch grounds is not: accessible, interactive, alive, comfortable. It's part of the city. It's also been an instant and unequivocal hit in the press and with the public. This was loudly reasserted recently as the park was awarded the Urban Land Institute's prestigious Amanda Burden Award. As for the park itself, it's a challenge to write anything new. To read some of the best press coverage visit the City Garden media page. Sculpture Magazine has more on the park's 24 sculptures.

Personally, the park has become a place I take every visitor I host in St. Louis and my family makes regular weekend trips on MetroLink to the 8th and Pine station to explore downtown and inevitably end up at City Garden. In a downtown blessed and cursed with numerous plazas and parks, this two-block oasis is the place to be. It holds a magnetism that isn't matched in the region. And in case you may have any doubt about this, is there any better indicator than City Garden becoming the place for prom, engagement, wedding and family photos?