Parks

New parks -- even very small ones -- can have a major impact on the way cities and communities are revitalized, according to this post.

July 9, 2011 - Planet Forward

The projects across the country having the biggest impact on the feel and function of cities are more often than not the work of landscape architects, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

July 7, 2011 - THE DIRT

More than 40 ping pong tables will be placed in public spaces throughout the English city of Hull this summer. It's part of a nationwide effort to get more people to exercise.

June 28, 2011 - Yorkshire Post

Plans to build a parking garage below an old plaza in Seville, Spain, revealed underground roman ruins. So the city built a new structure to hover over the site and to emphasize the area's historic amenities.

June 28, 2011 - Metropolis

The idea of tuning toxic or polluted sites into parks has been creating new green spaces in cities throughout the country. It's also re-starting the real estate market.

June 22, 2011 - THE DIRT

A new pedestrian bridge over a freeway has reconnected a Detroit neighborhood with new accessibility and a new park.

June 22, 2011 - The Architect's Newspaper

One of the most park-poor major cities in the U.S., Los Angeles is in the midst of a slight park renaissance, with a few new major projects in the works. A new exhibition looks at the state of new parks design in L.A.

June 14, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Just before the second phase of New York City's High Line park opened this week, Bloomberg architecture critic James S. Russell toured the new addition with its architect and landscape architect.

June 10, 2011 - Bloomberg

Construction has begun on a new park beneath a Toronto freeway overpass. The Toronto Star's Christopher Hume says the park will change the city forever.

June 9, 2011 - The Toronto Star

Philadelphia is seeing a surge in new parks, as new public-realm projects are either opening or moving closer towards development.

June 2, 2011 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

The NY Times sent an investigative reporter to Bryant Park to test the new city regulation banning smoking in parks and finds non-smoking park-goers incredibly tolerant toward smoking violations while smokers appear compliant with the regulation.

May 30, 2011 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Community members in Philadelphia have taken over a languishing site and put it back into use as a temporary park space.

May 26, 2011 - NewsWorks

Seattle is growing more dense, which is underlining the importance of the city's public spaces. But as this piece from Crosscut argues, the city's public spaces are mostly bleak and underused.

May 19, 2011 - Crosscut

Robert Campbell keeps hoping that the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (the park built over the Big Dig site) will attract visitors. But even as it gets more beautiful, it still fails in terms of usage.

May 18, 2011 - The Boston Globe

Exposition Park in Los Angeles is on the verge of major changes -- a retired space shuttle, the last days of a stadium, new transit access, and the demolition of a piece of big-name architecture. But looking at its history, changes are nothing new.

May 18, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

A new public plaza is being built in Washington D.C., and this rundown from The Dirt highlights its people-focused design.

May 7, 2011 - THE DIRT

A community in Salt Lake City is pooling their cash to purchase an empty lot owned by the LDS (Mormon) Church for a much-needed park. They hope to give the land to the city to maintain, but the church and state may not be on board with the plan.

April 25, 2011 - The Salt Lake Tribune

As the city of Los Angeles edges closer to approving the construction of a new sports stadium in downtown, this post from Curbed LA offers 10 suggestions on how the stadium could and should fit into the city.

April 9, 2011 - Curbed LA

This episode of 99% Invisible explores public spaces and their role in political change, and how over hundreds of years, riots have defined New York's Tompkins Square Park -- despite efforts to design unrest out.

April 9, 2011 - 99% Invisible

New outdoor, publicly accessible ping pong tables are taking hold in New York City, adding an extra element of health and activity to some of the city's public parks.

April 5, 2011 - The New York Times