Comments on: Parks Matter: Making the Right Choices in a New Economy

By: Urbanut

Urbanut — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:46:31 +0000

Scott,
Late on a reply here, but I could not agree more on the dedictaed bike lanes denoted by painted lanes. We have numerous roads throughout the city that, at least in my humble opinion, are grossly overbuilt and underutilized due to poor planning, development that did not occur, or shifting use patterns. While I would prefer the city, county and state to narrow these roads either through the construction of medians or narrowing the roads, I know this can be an expensive process. It would be much easier- not to mention cheaper- to add on street parking to these thoroughfares and paint dedicated bike lanes on the roadways. I’m sure you are aware- the bike lanes on 9th, Hudson and Bleeker (I think) in Manhattan are great examples. The solid green, maroon or stripped paint leave little question as to whether cars are not meant to drive in those areas.

By: Scott Banbury

Scott Banbury — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:52:29 +0000

Thanks for putting it in perspective, IO.

By: Interested Observer

Interested Observer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:57:42 +0000

“It was a good exercise.”

Motto of the Shelby County Division of Planning and Economic Development.

By: Zippy the giver

Zippy the giver — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:01:37 +0000

NYC has Central Park, Riverside park, and you missed Astoria Park, EVERYBODY in the neighborhood goes there. 14 tennis courts, a NYC block sized swimming pool, quiet area near the rail bridge, a Pro track and field, high diving area, wooded walking trails, no basketball goals and nobody cares, soccer fields, baseball fields, It like Central park for Queens, minus the ice rinks.

Central park has two ice rinks, playgrounds in the shade under trees, a reservoir with a running track around it, 25 baseball diamonds, sheep’s meadow, horseback riding, trails, bridges, reflection ponds, giant boulders to flop around on, concerts, band shells, benches, cobblestones, strawberry fields, CP Zoo, Delacourt Theater, The Met Museum, and of course, the view of the Guggenheim where you see the artist’s true inspiration, a toilet, and EVERYBODY goes to that park too.
I lived there for many years and ran Riverside Park, Central Park and Astoria Park. Great parks, great funding!

We may not have 12 to 24 million people here, but, our parks don’t need to suck.

Baseball diamonds that are crowned so they don’t hold water, here’s something cheap we could do.
Track and field would be a great addition, shredded tires for rubber tracks last a LONG time, worth every penny.
There is almost NEVER any violent drama around a track and field event.
There’s something that could be done with all those tires.

By: Scott Banbury

Scott Banbury — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:30:56 +0000

Sunday morning I pulled out one of those big delivery maps that businesses used before tom-tom and drew all of our long planned and campaigned for park amenities for my Cub Scouts (mostly Snowden and Idlewild boys).

I included all the greenways–VECA, Shelby Farms (CSX) and the Wolfriver. I showed them how planned painted bike lanes would connect to Overton Park (soon to be State Natural Area), Downtown/Mud Island, the Fairgrounds (whatever comes of that) and Shelby Farms. Then, crafting the pitch, I added the proposed skateparks at Rodney Baber (City) and Binghampton (outdoor non-profit) and Greenlaw Community Center.

It was a good exercise in illustrating that we have and are working diligently to green Memphis. Sometimes it’s just hard to see when nearsighted.

By: Urbanut

Urbanut — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:16:47 +0000

There is no doubt park do indeed matter. However, the impact parks have differs by city. Having lived in NYC and now living in Memphis, I have some observations of key differences as to why a park of the same proportions and programming would have a major impact there and negligible impact here. The biggest difference is of course the amount of outdoor space available per resident. There is precious little green space in much of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, thus having a view of a park (be it in an apartment or office) is a real find.
NYC, the ever crowded city, has little in the way of homes on quarter acre lots, at least in the inner borough areas. This lack of private outdoor space drives citizens to use these parks (and thus increases their value)- being the only “yard” available to them. Few can afford a residence with enough room for a swing and slide in the rear, or enough space for rover to run around. However, in Memphis, the vast majority of residents have their own semi-private park in front of their homes and a very private park in the rear, reducing the need for such public space and its use.
Public transit is another major driver of park use in NYC. As noted by the author, this system allowed for relatively easy access to the parks visited from almost any point in the city. In the case of Memphis, our inefficient transit system limits one’s ability to access in parks in any way other than by automobile. Hopefully the new greenways that are currently under construction will begin to address this issue, but they can never hope to replace a well panned transit system. Residents of from all sections of the city need access to both neighborhood parks for certain activities as well as access to the city’s few major parks (Overton and Shelby Farms) in order for these spaces to reach their full potential. If these parks were to experience heavy use, seeing as most would have to get in a car and drive, they would need to pave over a significant portion of their acreage to accommodate patrons.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:15:27 +0000

Yes! If Memphis could be known as the “green city” with Riverfront, Fairgrounds and Shelby Farms connected by a green line for transit, bikers and walkers along with the Wolf River green line, Memphis would be more prosperous. Young people would want to live here. Memphis had a great park system in the 1950s that was eroded by time, politics and mostly lack of money. We can have it again with even more this time.