Parks are for everyone! It may sound like an obvious statement, but too often beautiful parks are seen as a perk of living in an affluent neighborhood.
Park Pride believes that all people, regardless of economic status, deserve to have access to the well-documented health and wellness benefits associated with living near a park or greenspace. What’s more, we know that great parks—parks that are active and loved by neighbors—make people happy and communities strong.
However, The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore indicates that just 66% of Atlantans live within a 10-minute walk of a greenspace. Park Pride is working with the City, local communities, and partners to increase that percentage.
One historically “under-parked” community is the English Avenue neighborhood on Atlanta’s Westside. In fact, there were no parks at all in English Avenue until 2014 with the opening of Lindsay Street Park. Park Pride’s Park Visioning team worked with community members for months to create a plan for a park that could be embraced by those living in the area. With this plan as a guide, Lindsay Street Park was built thanks to the leadership of The Conservation Fund with support from Park Pride, the City of Atlanta, and 30 other organizations.
Because of Lindsay Street Park, local children now have a safe place to play. Neighbors enjoy the native plants and flowers that attract bees and butterflies to the rain garden. The community has a beautiful place to gather, enjoy each other’s company, meet new neighbors, and create a shared history.
Needless to say, the park has become a treasured community asset with a growing Friends of the Park group committed to making this park the heart of English Avenue.
Park Pride and our partners will continue to work with communities to build more parks that will make a real difference in improving people’s quality of life.
Boone Park West is our current park project on Atlanta’s Westside. Once complete, it will serve a dual function: providing another community greenspace while also alleviating stormwater flooding with green infrastructure integration. Our Visioning team completed the park’s conceptual master plan late in 2016. You can view the completed vision on our website.
Park Pride believes that parks are the key to Atlantans’ happiness, and we are committed to bringing great parks to life across the city.
Because everyone deserves access to the happiness that parks provide.
Do you want to live in a happier city? Learn more about how Park Pride’s Park Visioning Program helps design parks for play, relaxation, and neighborhood cohesion: parkpride.org/visioning.