PORT TOWNSEND — Residents attending a town meeting Sunday agreed the city needs a public plaza where people could sit, drink coffee and meet friends.

Many participants of the meeting at Blue Heron Middle School said they would support closing Madison Street downtown and using the space on either side to create that plaza.

“As long as the city is planning an annex, we should request that the footprint be expanded to accommodate a public plaza,” resident Don White said.

White was one of 55 people at the meeting, where participants split into groups and were asked to reflect on what qualities they liked about public spaces in other towns, what’s missing in Port Townsend and how to remedy that situation.

The consensus from the meeting is that the city is rich in places to go to be alone, but poor in public places to meet and socialize.

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The rest of the story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.