July. 2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

New Search

OACITY PARKS FORUM I BRIEFING PAPERS Community Engagement KEY POINT #I: KEY POINT #2: 4111, Parks are one of the quickest and most Parks provide places for people to effective ways to build a sense of connect and interact in a shared community and improve quality of life. environment. Parks are one of the most effective methods available within Parks create a sense of place by connecting residents to one the political term of a mayor to change the character and another and to their larger environment.City parks also pro- improve the image of a community.Park improvements are vide residents with meaningful ways to express their concerns often quick and tangible actions for mayors and citizens,which about the environment.They can physically reconnect commu- can work in concert with other issues such as reducing crime, nines to themselves by creating linkages or restoring historic eliminating graffiti,or traffic management. connections broken by highways,sprawl,and poor planning decisions.Greenways,green streets,and linear parks are now Eugene,Oregon.Parks and Community Gardens widely used open space types (Smith and Hellmund 1993). Parks in this city are used to involve residents in a variety of civic and environmental activities.Eugene's Downtown Park For example,a study by Human-Environment Research Blocks host one of the community's signature events,the Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana- Saturday Market,which brings people together for clothing Champaign found that the more there is green space in and jewelry shopping,for produce at the farmer's market and inner-city neighborhoods,the more that common public for food and entertainment.People also go there to see other spaces are used by residents(Kuo et al. 1998).The people,hang out,eat and listen to the music.Eugene residents researchers found that relationships between neighbors are also"took back"Washington Jefferson Park from drug dealers made stronger by the mere presence of vegetation. and prostitutes by working together in a community watch. Compared to residents living near barren spaces,those closer They became organized over a period of a few months,and to green spaces enjoy more social activities,have more visi- the park's turnaround occurred within a year of residents tors,know more of their neighbors,and have stronger feelings becoming involved.Washington Jefferson Park now is used for of belonging.They found that greener common areas facilitate various recreational activities,such as late-night basketballillblv the development and maintenance of stronger social ties. games,and community celebrations such as Eugene's Cinco de Mayo.(www.planeteugene.com/Parks) Davis,California:Village Homes.Village Homes is an eco- logical neighborhood with 242 single and multiple family hous- Minneapolis:Peavey Park Community Listening and es located in the university city of Davis.The plan for the Visioning Project In partnership with Mayor Sharon Sayles neighborhood emphasizes common open spaces designed, Belton and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board,Hope developed and managed by residents(Corbett and Corbett Community Inc.led a community engagement process to 2000).Post occupancy evaluation studies of the community bring about positive change to Peavey Park and the surround show that people that live there have twice as many friends ing Phillips neighborhood.Issues common to urban parks such and three times more social contacts than residents in a near- as drugs,gangs,and gun violence,plagued the park's north by conventional neighborhood in Davis (Francis 2002).When end.Physical barriers included crossing major arterial streets first proposed in the late 1970s,the developers had difficulty for access and a barren,non welcoming park landscape.The securing financing for the project.Today,Village Homes is City Parks Forum provided grant money to enable Hope,in Davis' most desirable neighborhood with homes selling at$10 partnership with the city and park board,to assemble a group -$25 per square foot premium in 30 percent less market time. of community leaders to plan and conduct 18 community lis- (www.Igc.org/freepub/land_use/models/village_homes.html) tening sessions revolving around Peavey Park and the Phillips neighborhood.Nearly 200 adults and children attended the sessions,conducted in several languages to allow the participa- tion of the diverse ethnicity of the neighborhood.Next,Hope conducted several community visioning sessions.Working with an architect who attended both sessions,residents created a concept plan to revitalize their park.Following the I 2-month process,community members,many of whom had never before attended a public meeting,presented their plan to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.(mkeefe@hope-com munityorg) ID 2of4 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION