A record number of Americans, estimated at nearly 160 million, went to the polls to make their voices heard. This past week’s election, while at times exhausting, has left me inspired for the work ahead. We at The Trust for Public Land are eager to take on the most pressing challenges facing our communities.
Urban parks became a lifesaver this summer. In many cities across the northern hemisphere, people took advantage of the warmer months to go outside for a much-needed respite after weeks of stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as colder weather looms on the horizon, is there still a role to for parks to play?
During the first wave of COVID-19, Park People’s survey of 1600 Canadians found almost three-quarters reported that their appreciation for parks and green spaces had increased. Also, 82% of Canadians reported that parks have become more important to their mental health during COVID.
The first section of The Underline, a long-awaited 10-mile linear park in Miami, is opening on November 16. The walkway is designed by the same firm that oversaw New York City’s now-famous High Line and is regenerating the spaces below Miami’s Metrorail system to a destination for urban hikers and art lovers.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has repeatedly referred to the “15-Minute City” concept as a way of recovering from COVID-19. In the September 19 Durkan Digest, the mayor said she had directed Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development to “explore the concept of a ’15 Minute City,’ as a potential framework for the next major Comprehensive Plan.”
Ten years after its founding and eight months into a pandemic, L.A’s bike-centric nonprofit reimagines public health in an urban landscape.
Cities around the world have reimagined public space throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to help residents get moments of exercise, fresh air and some sort of distanced social interaction. In Toronto, entire roads were closed to make way for cyclists and joggers as part of ActiveTO. Its sister program, CafeTO also closed roads so that restaurants could extend outdoor patios in lieu of indoor dining. Circles were painted on the grounds of Trinity Bellwoods park so that people could still gather while physical distancing.
The completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959, with its new system of giant locks for ocean-going vessels on the other side of the river from Montreal, rendered the Lachine Canal largely redundant. Its final closure in 1970, fifty years ago this year, triggered a debate over its future as well as the future of the deindustrializing neighbourhoods that adjoin it. Who was the canal to be redeveloped for?
Klyde Warren Park announced that Jacobs has donated $8 million to the project that will expand the beloved greenspace 1.65 acres to the west over Woodall Rodgers Freeway toward Field Street.
These past six months have been more challenging to downtowns than any I remember – and I’ve been working on, investing in and living in downtowns for almost half a century. We are being asked to reconsider everything we believe about downtowns – why they are important, and how they work.
