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Hot take: The new park benches downtown are a perfect example of form over function
I was walking through Mill River Park yesterday and tried to sit on one of those new curved metal benches. They look cool from a distance, but the seat slopes forward so much you have to brace your feet the whole time! It's like they designed it to be a sculpture first and a place to rest second. Has anyone else found a public space with seating that's just plain uncomfortable to use?
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michaeladams4mo ago
Those benches are honestly a pain. I tried one down by the riverwalk last week and felt like I was constantly fighting to stay put. It's like they forgot people actually sit down to rest, not to do leg exercises. You'd think for what they cost, someone would have taken two minutes to test them. Makes you wonder if city planners ever actually sit on the stuff they buy.
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wadeyoung6mo ago
My buddy Mark sat on one of those for maybe two minutes last week before he gave up. He said it felt like he was sliding off a weird metal slide and his back started to ache. We ended up just leaning against a tree instead. It seems like a total waste of good park space to put in seats nobody can actually use.
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josephs266mo ago
The new bus stop benches downtown have the same problem, they're angled forward so you can't relax at all. It feels like cities are buying this stuff without anyone testing if it's actually comfortable. My back hurts just thinking about trying to sit through a whole lunch break on one. They design things to look modern or to stop people from sleeping on them, but forget regular folks just want to sit down.
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