The benches around my dwelling

I opted to use the word dwelling simply because I am looking through the yellow pages. Have you ever noticed that the only place in the world they still use words like this are in the yellow pages. Have you ever looked for clothes in the yellow pages. They are not listed under clothes they are listed under apparel, who the hell still uses that word. Anyway I'm getting a little of topic. I live in a large urban center and havve noticed something odd. We have these benches all around the city lining the sidewalks. There are actually people who sit on these benches as a pastime. They just sit there and watch the world go by. I've been to other cities that have benches that sit empty day after day. Why are these benches getting used, what is the attraction?