{"id":21414,"date":"2013-01-17T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T14:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/view\/2013\/01\/17-3"},"modified":"2013-01-17T15:03:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T14:03:00","slug":"common-ground-its-all-happening-at-the-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/common-ground-its-all-happening-at-the-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Ground: It’s All Happening at the Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parks stand as the foremost symbol of the commons because they are literally common ground\u2013a place where everyone can come and rub shoulders, interact, share an experience, get to know one another better. They are the foundation of community and\u00a0democracy.\"\"Milwaukee\u2019s Lake Park, one of many national treasures designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. (Photo by Julia Taylor under a Creative Commons license from flickr.com)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Parks are also one of America\u2019s great gifts to the world. Not only did we introduce the idea of national parks with Yellowstone in 1872, Frederick Law Olmsted earlier showed the immense promise of public parks with the creation of Central Park. Until then most of the major work by landscape architects such as Capability Brown was done on private estates. Olmsted showcased the idea that the public sphere could also inspire us with beauty and grandeur, an idea he developed based on the work of British designer Joseph\u00a0Paxton.<\/p>\n

Olmsted\u2019s parks around North America\u2013New York, Boston, Chicago, Seattle Louisville, Milwaukee, Buffalo and Montreal\u2013are treasures ranking with the Parthenon an Grand Canyon. Yet sadly, some of the these parks have not been treated with the care worthy of masterpieces. Buffalo\u2019s Delaware Park now is bisected by an expressway and Detroit\u2019s Belle Isle is in disrepair. Indeed, even Central and Prospect Parks in New York City were deteriorating in the 1980s until citizens\u2019 groups came forward to help the financially-strapped park board maintain\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

Do We Still Need\u00a0Parks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Too often, there is a sense from leaders that parks are not as necessary as they used to be. It\u2019s not Olmsted\u2019s era anymore when most people lived in tenements with no access to nature. Now the great majority of people, especially in suburban areas, live in houses or apartments with yards. Parks aren\u2019t a top priority\u2013especially in these times of tight fiscal\u00a0budgets.<\/p>\n

But actually, we need great parks as much as\u00a0ever:<\/p>\n