Construction Begins On Nation's Largest Park For Disabled Children

In California, a huge team of volunteers is building the nation's largest playground for disabled children, equipped with slides and ramps wide enough for wheelchairs, rubber ground padding, and textured play surfaces for blind children.

1 minute read

April 30, 2007, 7:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"The park includes a tree house accessible to wheelchairs via a long, curving ramp, as well as textured slides for blind kids and a colossal rocking boat for kids in wheelchairs to roll freely."

"The ramps and pathways are wide enough for two wheelchairs to pass. It includes metal, in addition to plastic, slides so kids with plastic ear implants can ride without static electricity damaging their implants."

"The entire 12,000-square-foot area will be surfaced with rubber, rather than bark or sand, so wheelchairs and walkers can get around easily. It also includes wide open spaces for kids in wheelchairs to play ball safely."

"The price tag not counting the land: $750,000, about half a million more than a regular playground."

Saturday, April 28, 2007 in The San Francisco Chronicle

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

Mamdani behind a microphone, in front of a snowbank

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge

A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.

November 6 - CNN

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6 - Grist

People board a bus in Seattle.

Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion

Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.

November 6 - KOMO News

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.