What I’ve been working on so far …

Hey guys, so I’ve been doing some research into the origin of NYC parks–like, the whole idea of building parks and playgrounds in the first place, and the goals these parks were supposed to achieve. I found a really awesome article that explains it more fully:

An historical analysis of young people’s use of public space, parks, and playgrounds in NYC

Also, the NYC Parks website has TONS of info about different parks, their locations, events, even some history :

nycgovparks.org

I think a good springboard for discussion with the class would be to determine: a) What NYC hoped/hopes to achieve with the building of parks  b) if/how these goals are being achieved  c)whether we agree with the method of achieving these goals (too much/too little money being spent on it, etc.)

What do you guys think?

Also, I found an interesting NYC-made video promoting its parks and park programs. I think showing this in class would be a good way to get discussions going, especially because it leaves a lot of questions unanswered: why the sudden interest in parks in ny? How are they being funded? Where are they? etc. :

Parks: A 12-Minute Tour

Here’s an article critiquing Bllomberg for focusing on parks only in affluent neighborhoods (notice the comments to the article that claim he hasn’t completely ignored less affluent neighborhoods as the article suggests:

Building Parks in Poor Neighborhoods

NY Times article criticizing the Parks Dept for mismanagement of poor nieghborhoods’ parks:

Study Criticizes Parks Dept. Management

Article that analyzes health and “walkability” in poor neighborhoods:

disparities in urban neighborhood conditions

The “Bloomberg Way” in regard to parks: Bloomberg attempts to dictate the design and functions of parks, while leaving the funding up to individual communities:

In Bloombergian NY, high-performance parks for a high-performing public

PlaNYC’s goals for parks by the year 2030: PlaNYC public spaces