Thoughtful analysis of public needs and landscape opportunities is fertile soil for effective park design. It honors both park function and character. There are no shortcuts to balancing the complex and competing needs for our park landscapes.

Among all our activities in support of the parks, we believe nothing is more important than advocating for a comprehensive plan like a Cultural Landscape Report for every park. Wonderful park spaces and landscape quality can be sacrificed by an unbalanced emphasis between legitimate community needs for recreation, landscape design and park heritage.

How, for example, does good planning make parks more exciting and more fulfilling for everyone?

For children…

• The scale of a play area can be focused on a child’s perspective, not the adult’s, so kids feel at ease in their space.

• Areas for small children can be located away from parking and areas where jogging and other adult activity is not a safety issue for youngsters.

For people wanting exercise…

• Exercise spaces and paths can be laid out so they are exciting and challenging without intruding on more quiet, contemplative park uses.

For people enjoying a park’s historic, character-defining features…

• Parks can be designed with restroom and drinking water facilities to honor both past and present needs when people want to spend long hours visiting the parks without worrying about being more that 10 minutes from home.

• Pavilions and other features can be provided to honor a parks legacy while meeting modern standards and uses.

For parents and the elderly…

• Accessible, safe and obvious entrances and approach routes to the parks can be designed and landscaped so park users avoid random pedestrian crossings where traffic is dangerous.

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