Good public centers should do their best to connect pedestrians inside with the street activity outside. Pioneer Place makes that effort clear with its tall glass entrances and skylit central atriums, but it also contradicts its intended purpose with an underground passage and glass skyway that enable shoppers to avoid the outdoors altogether. Additionally, instead of making the most of its atriums' open spaces, Pioneer Place becomes two almost identical enclosures that trap pedestrians with escalators and the repetition of store, railing, store, railing. Everywhere the spaces are filled with fixtures and ornamentation inspired by the historical pastiche of postmodern design. Pioneer Place II is brand new, but like its companion across the street, it is already an anachronism.
Downtown is a great place to be, thanks to the city's planning successes.