Opening Activity: Mpls. fountains flow, but few drink

The article was really interesting. I liked the idea of the fountains and assumed that people would be using them often because of their convenience. That is, until I heard about the complaints. One of the users who was interviewed stated they had no idea it was even a fountain at first, a simple problem the city should have anticipated. Another said that the water was warm and they wouldn’t drink it even if it was convenient. Another complained of the location of the fountain saying that the placement didn’t make sense for encouraging passerby to drink, and the fountain sat in the sun all day growing warmer. While reading the article I also learned that each of the four “strategically placed” fountains cost roughly 50,000 dollars. This price wouldn’t be worth it to me, and all the complaints just added to my dislike. It seemed poorly planned and not well advertised. They said they didn’t want to suffocate the city with all the little art openings and new things, but I would have been more to look for them if I had heard of them. I also would have been able to differentiate from random decorative sculpture and random drinking fountain.