Cities Can Have Health Promoting Park Systems Through Proximity, Accessibility, and Co-Location

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Peter Harnik

The closer the park and the easier to get to, the more likely it will be used. Conversely, people who live far from parks are apt to utilize them less. These obvious truths have implications for public health, but recognizing the problem does not automatically offer simple solutions for mayors, city councils, park directors, or [...]

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Proceed Without Caution: Cities Add Parkland by Closing Streets and Roads to Cars

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Peter Harnik

A thirteenth 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 added parkland by closing streets and roads to automobile traffic. In every city there are hundreds of acres of streets and roadways potentially available as park and recreational facilities. While parks [...]

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From Dumps to Destinations: Converting Landfills to Parks

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Peter Harnik

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 [...]

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Pavement in the Park: How Removing Parking Adds Acreage

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Peter Harnik

A seventh 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 by removing excess parking spaces. Do you park in your park? Does it seem to be a parking lot more than a park, a lot? Urban park [...]

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Pack Square Park and Holly Farm Park Selected as “Frontline Parks”

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Angelina Horn

Each month, City Parks Alliance recognizes two “Frontline Parks“ to promote inspiring examples of urban park excellence, innovation and stewardship across the country in the face of shrinking municipal budgets, land use pressures and urban neighborhood decay. When we think about urban park philanthropy, we usually imagine a single, wealthy individual donating a portion of [...]

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Ask the Expert: Are Artificial Turf Fields Safe?

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Jordan Thaler

After a damp, cold winter that morphed into a damp, cold spring, Portland was recently forced to close all of its grass play fields for several weekends in order to prevent irreparable damage (see right photo). On a typical weekend, the fields are replete with soccer players, kickball tournaments, and pick-up Frisbee games. Should Portland follow [...]

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“Dr. Park, I presume?”

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Ryan Donahue

This post looks at the role that doctors play in park prescription programs, while a later follow-up will look more deeply about the contributions of park departments that have partnered with clinics. The growing prevalence of obesity and illnesses related to inactivity underscores the importance of cooperation between the medical community and parks departments. This [...]

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Turning Cemeteries for the Dead into Parks for the Living

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Peter Harnik

A second excerpt from the recently released book published by Island Press called Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities. In this post, we look at cemeteries used as parks and some best practices. In the past, before official parks came into being, cemeteries were the principal manicured greenspaces for cities – most famously Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, [...]

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Parks, Schools and Affodable Housing for Kids in Cities

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Ben Welle

We wrote before on how small urban parks can help draw families into compact neighborhoods, specifically mentioning the great parks of Portland’s Pearl District. And now we learn that Portland Public Schools is looking to create an elementary school in the Pearl District because people like it so much. As DJC reports, “Developers are realizing [...]

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Going Pesticide Free in Parks

Posted on October 12, 2008 by Ben Welle

The Portland Tribune does a nice job of explaining a pilot program to go pesticide free in a few of Portland’s parks. The basic message is that if you want to go pesticide free it will require both volunteers and money. The parks department has partnered with a nonprofit that has organized 244 volunteers who [...]

Filed under: maintenance/management | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

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