Open Space
The need for access to parks and open space has never been as obvious, or as pressing.
The Trust for Public Land
The second most populous city in California, San Diego, wants to revolutionize its approach to planning parks and open space.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Parks departments in New York City and Pittsburgh are offering videos and livestreams to cooped-up residents.
Next City
Feature
One of the dominant themes to emerge from the spread of COVID-19 is the conflict between the need to be in nature for health and well-being while avoiding public space as much as possible to prevent the spread.
The story of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, illustrates the class tensions that arise when an idealized vision of life close to nature butts up against the realities of wealth, privilege, and social inequality.
Outside
Too many people have been seeking normalcy on parks and on trails. This isn’t a normal time.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
As more cities "daylight" the rivers and waterways formerly interred underground to culverts and stormdrains, a process for ensuring community leadership and equitable outcomes is also coming to light.
Nonprofit Quarterly
The people sitting, playing, and enjoying themselves in parks aren't always representative of the population that live in the communities. Here are three examples of parks that succeed at inclusion.
Urban Institute
In Golden, Colorado, residents want to keep a parcel of land as open space, but it could come with a hefty price tag.
The Denver Post
The scope of the Atlanta Beltline's effect on the city has astounded most observers, including the person who came up with the idea first.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Land in the Coyote Valley in San Jose, California, will be protected in a move that ends over three decades of development battles.
The Mercury News
New research finds that different types of parks correlate with different gentrification effects, adding to the complexity of urban change.
CityLab
As the High Line turns ten, a debate about the costs and benefits of urban revitalization continues.
Architect
The city of Galveston has more to do to live up to its own standards in accessing and protecting the gulf coast.
Associated Press via the Houston Chronicle
Feature
Mitchell Silver, commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, former planning director of Raleigh, and former president of the APA, discusses the aspirations and realities of a long, successful career in planning.
In communities lacking green space, public access to upgraded school playgrounds is a win-win solution.
Fast Company
Minneapolis wants more equity in its parks spending—and new plans are a key step in the process of delivering more equitable results.
MinnPost
A developer just bought a Denver-area golf course in the hopes of some day rezoning the site for residential and commercial development. Open space advocates have other ideas, as does the city (for now).
The Denver Post
King County, Seattle spends 80 of its parks operating budget with money generated from a levy imposed on homeowners. After approving the levy most recently in 2013, voters are supporting it again this week.
The Seattle Times
Feature
Urban park planning and design needs to deliver a lot of community benefit from a small amount of space. The lessons that emerge
