Feeling The Love
My wife grabbed the dog leash and headed out the front door. I followed, still stuffing my hands into gloves and zipping my coat up to my chin. It was nearing the end of May but it felt more like early March.
We hooked a right, cut through the woods at the end of the street and entered Ponderosa State Park—one of the jewels of the Idaho State Park system. We followed the blacktop entrance street to the old visitor’s center and then started to navigate the newly uncovered hiking paths that led through the campground towards the back of the park. As we walked and talked, I noticed all the activity taking place around me. Park staff were blowing off campsites, painting picnic tables, checking power pedestals, raking up debris left behind by a long winter, and generally getting everything ship-shape for Memorial Day weekend.
As we left the campground, my wife remarked at how much busier the trails we walk year in and year out had become. Normally, the shoulder seasons meant we had the park and its paths to ourselves. No more. The park was busy mid-week, year-round.
The same phenomenon is happening nation-wide as people “re-discover” their local parks and drive up attendance. Everything from playgrounds to shelters to campgrounds to trails to community centers are being loved to death.
As you might imagine, this new love is having a profound effect on park maintenance and design. To help you get up to speed on these new strategies, we asked readers to share their tips and tricks with you. The ideas we uncovered were interesting—everything from changes in park location concepts (i.e., trying to locate parks between neighborhoods/communities to promote diversity and inclusiveness) to ecological considerations (using creative park design to also solve local environmental problems—two solutions for the price of one) to updated programming guidelines (making room for new users and regular customers to enjoy their activities).
All in all, I think you’ll like what we came up with. If you do, or if you don’t, let us know. We love mail.
Till next month…
Rodney J. Auth
Publisher
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