Richard Florida pens an interesting long-form article in the Atlantic on how the “crash” will reshape where we live and how cities and regions will look going forward. Nothing specific about parks in here, but some interesting food for thought on the role parks can play in attracting talented individuals. Florida sees a country that: [...]
Filed under: economics | Tagged: resident attraction | Leave a Comment »
The Supreme Court rules today that a religious group could not force a city in Utah to accept its monument. The ruling was unanimous, with Justice Alito offering the majority opinion. The NY Times summarizes: “The Free Speech Clause restricts government regulation of private speech,” Justice Alito noted. “It does not regulate government speech.” While [...]
Filed under: uncategorized | Tagged: legal | Leave a Comment »
The NY Times has an article this week on how “involuntary attention” such as being in a park or children going out for recess during school hours can foster better learning, health and development. Turns out, not so shockingly, that we need to recharge every once in a while. Sitting in front of a computer, [...]
Filed under: facilities, health | Tagged: mental health, recess, research, schools | 2 Comments »
In this recent post we displayed data on the size of most U.S. city parks, and found that most are 5 acres or less — many of which are the nearby parks residents come into contact with most often. The importance of good neighborhood parks is key to attracting residents and especially families in denser [...]
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Ever wonder, what’s the size of an average U.S. city park? Well, we have the answer. The Center for City Park Excellence maintains a database of individual parks in the largest U.S. cities — currently at a total of 10,500 parks in about the 50 largest cities. So, a pretty big sample size to make [...]
Filed under: facilities, maintenance/management, planning | 2 Comments »
The San Francisco Chronicle blog City Insider points us to the city controller’s recently released annual review of city parks. San Francisco is unique in that it requires the controller to conduct an inspection and report on each and every park in the city. Here’s a summary of what’s reported (full report in pdf here): [...]
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Harvard economist Ed Glaeser argues that to save the planet, we should build more densely (City Journal) Know what a bike boulevard is? Sam Seskin explains (Citiwire.net) White House announces appointment of Carrion as Urban Affairs Director (Whitehouse.gov) Walk in park is good for your mental health (McGill Tribune)
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Jack Foley of L.A.’s People for Parks pens an op-ed in the LA Daily News on the need for parks in tough times. (L.A. parks are facing a deep budget cut, as the city scrambles to reconcile lower revenues.) The budget crisis is forcing us to rethink our lifestyle. This isn’t our first economic downturn, [...]
Filed under: partnerships | Tagged: los angeles | Leave a Comment »
Columbus, Ohio officials are set to tear down their “City Center” mall — another example of failed indoor shopping in a U.S. downtown — and replace it with a park ringed by housing and retail. Noting the downtown “as we know it will change,” the Columbus Dispatch covered the park this past week: This summer, [...]
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The provision by Sen. Coburn to prohibit any community park from receiving funding from the stimulus package has been stripped. The agreement reached by the House and Seante conferees means that parks are now back in the game for stimulus. Word is just coming over the wire now that the House has passed the conference [...]
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