But this is Chico, too

The new version of the City Plaza is becoming a hit. Whenever I drive by it, I see plenty of people out there, apparently enjoying it. I assume they aren’t there against their will. I sat in the plaza for about a half hour a couple of Sundays ago. With so many people constantly coming and going, it was hard to take an accurate census, but I came up with an average of 75 people using it at any given time. When I was there, no special event was being held.

The new design seems to be a great people magnet. The old plaza, as beloved as it may have been in principle, just wasn’t that popular in practice. People may have admired it, but they did it mainly from a distance.

A lot of people are still sniping about the new plaza. Among the criticisms: skateboarders are defacing it, dogs are pooping in it and the owners aren’t cleaning up, vandals are fooling around with the fountain and the back-in parking spaces are a joke.

In another month, when the weather warms up, I imagine we’ll start hearing more complaints about the lack of trees, but I predict the plaza will become even more crowded as people use the fountain to cool off.

Ten years from now, the trees will provide as much shade as anyone might wish. I know that seems like a long time to wait, but one shadeless decade in the lifespan of a plaza that is already about 150 years old and will probably be around for another 150 years doesn’t seem so bad.

I’m all for looking at the big picture. I think over time the plaza will again become as cherished a part of Chico as The Esplanade, another piece of hallowed ground that lost a lot of trees in a redesign, but which today looks completely unscathed.

In Chico, “progress” doesn’t always have to be a dirty word.