This is part two of a three-part series looking at the histories of six different city park conservancies. Read part one here. Madison Square Park Conservancy, Madison Square Park, New York Madison Square Park was officially dedicated in 1847. In 1870, soon after the creation of New York City’s first Department of Public Parks, the 6.2-acre [...]
Filed under: green infrastructure, planning, programming, renewal | Tagged: conservancies, denver, new york | Leave a Comment »
A tenth excerpt from the recently released book published by Island Press called Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities. In this post, we look at some cities who have created parkland from capped landfills. New parks can be fashioned out of old garbage dumps. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Balloon Park in Albuquerque, Cesar Chavez Park in [...]
Filed under: green infrastructure, planning, renewal | Tagged: fresh kills, fresno, landfills, new york, portland, seattle, virginia beach | 2 Comments »
A previous post highlighted a few cities that closed roads through parks to increase pedestrian and non-motorized use. We’ve recently learned about a proposal to temporarily close streets to traffic during weekends and holidays in Buenos Aires and bring in portable playground equipment and benches to turn these roads into parks. A video of this [...]
Filed under: green infrastructure, international, planning, transportation | Tagged: awards, international, new york, road closures, streets | Leave a Comment »
A third excerpt from the recently released book published by Island Press called Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities. In this post, we look at some examples of boulevards and parkways used as parks. When the parkway was first invented by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvin Vaux in the 1860s, it was much more a “park” and less a “way” [...]
Filed under: green infrastructure, planning | Tagged: boston, kansas city, minneapolis, new york, parkways/boulevards | 1 Comment »
In a series of posts, we will begin featuring excerpts from the recently released book from Island Press called Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities. In this first post, we look at rooftop parks and some best practices. New York landscape architect Thomas Balsley delights in promising to show friends what he calls “the greatest [...]
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We found a very nice video discussing New York’s goal of being the “greatest, greenest big city in the world,” according to NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. While the video focuses more on transportation improvements in the city, specifically bicycle infrastructure and bus rapid transit, there is a brief discussion on the success of closing Broadway [...]
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A unique project in New York City has been devising better ways to engage with immigrant communities. The Immigrants & Parks Collaborative, funded by the JM Kaplan Fund, City Parks Foundation and New York Immigration Coalition, has supported work with ten community-based organizations in eight parks to provide a dedicated staff person for participatory planning, [...]
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An article in the New York Times yesterday gives an interesting overview of the row that’s ensued in the past years over redesigning and changing New York’s well-known 10-acre Washington Square Park. The article provides valuable insight into how or if park redesigns should be undertaken in such a situation, but also reveals how much [...]
Filed under: planning | Tagged: new york | 1 Comment »
A new playground opened recently in New York City’s Morningside Park that attempts to provide lower play spaces that won’t hurt children when they fall while still providing challenge and fun. Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times article describing it: The jungle gym itself sprawls over a chunk of a block, with the younger [...]
Filed under: facilities | Tagged: new york, playgrounds | 1 Comment »
Next American City describes the floating pool barge calling New York City home, noting that there were actually 15 such pools in the city 100 years ago, then for hygienic purposes but now for recreational. The idea has been the project of former city planner and New York City park official Ann Buttenwieser. Some additional [...]
Filed under: facilities | Tagged: new york, pools | Leave a Comment »
