Parks: A Need in Austin

How can public parks become places for people in Austin to increase their social capital? Can a city like Austin continue to build sustainable parks that can help its citizens? What do parks need in order for people to step outside their homes, and enjoy them? Austin, the capital of Texas, is known to have a surplus of parks and recreational areas that many Austin residents use. In fact, many Austin residents use the parks to boast their city. As Texas leans towards industrial cities like Houston or Dallas, Austin likes to thrive off its nature trails, and “unique” parks. In order to know how public parks came to be, we must first examine one of the first parks that America crafted: Central Park.

The main park that is mostly talked about in the United States is Central Park in New York City. This 1.3-mile park first opened in 1858 to the public, and it was an instant urban park success. At the time, New York started to become a booming city, and city planners decided to build an urban park for its city to use. This plan was begun by none other than Frederick Law Olmstead. This architect was born on April 26, 1822 near Hartford, Connecticut. He had multiple jobs before settling on converting a huge space in the middle of New York City to a lavishing space for all people to use. His transition to putting an idea for a vacant space to be available for New Yorkers to be free in is admirable. However, before the land was acquired, it was in terrible condition. It was a complete pigsty, and needed a major renovation. There was no way that this huge project that Olmsted was going to partake was going to be easy. Construction began in 1857, and continued throughout the American Civil War. There was a lot to be completed, and it took many workers to get the job done. Certain areas of the park were open to the public while construction was going on, and this alleviated a lot of the stress of the project. During the planning and construction, many citizens sent designs that the park could use. Olmstead looked at many designs, and it took months for even the committee to decide on the design of this new park. After deciding on one of the designs, Olmstead focused on having Central Park man-made rivers, sidewalks, plenty of trees, and many diverging paths. Central Park, in its whole entirety, opened in 1873. The current size of Central Park is 843 acres, and has had a couple of renovations since then. The focus for this park was for it have a natural forest look in the middle of a crowded, urban city. An idea of an urban park was unheard of, and in fact, Central Park inspired other cities to use green spaces as parks.

What works at Central Park is the ambience. It is a key element of why the park has prevailed, and seen as a popular spot in New York City. Tourists from around the world can visit Time Square, or the Statue of Liberty, but some actually even pay Central Park. Hearing from friends, like Sharda Karim, she complimented the public park. Karim used to live in New York City, and often went to Central Park. “I love it just because there was so much to do. You could be running or sit and feed the pigeons.” Central Park’s appeal is that one forgets that they are in the middle of an urban area. The fact that such a big city like New York City has huge treetops, and a small lake, is a surprising one. Central Park is proof that green parks can be in urban centers.

As much as Austin prides itself in being a green healthy city, there is much improvement to be done. A famous park here in the Austin area is Pease Park. Pease Park is located in central Austin, and features some attractions. This park is spacious with a big field in the middle, which is utilized for many festivals such as Eeyore’s Birthday. Eeyore’s Birthday is a yearly festival that occurs on the last Saturday in April to celebrate the birthday of Eeyore, a popular character from Winnie-the-Pooh. This festival has grown in popularity since the 1960s, following a hippie counter culture. I went to visit the urban park during the festival, and recalling on how the park was laid out, I had some to say about it. Although the area has a huge section for Austinites to utilize, there was virtually nothing in the park. There was a couple of hiking and biking trails, which contribute to the appeal of the park. There were picnic tables that allow for park goers to sit, and enjoy the scenery. Pease Park also had a children’s playground that was somewhat unique. It included swings, a slide, and monkey bars. Pease Park also had recreation centers that have bathrooms, and centers that have brochures on what to do in Austin. In my opinion, for this park to work, the city of Austin should include more activities and festivals so Pease Park can have more visitors, and investors.

Another park here in Austin is Montopolis Park in south Austin. Unlike Pease Park, this is one park that is in high need of renovation. Historically, it is no surprise that a park in the southeast portion of the city has no funding, and did not fully develop. As many Austinites know their city history, during the Jim Crow Era, Austin was divided on Interstate-35. The white portion of the city lived on the west, whereas the rest of the minorities lived on the east. This park definitely did not meet some of the standards that most modern parks have. First, the park was spread across, and used a lot of blank space. This means that there were visibly no trees, or shade to be found. Additionally, the attractions that were available at this park were two playgrounds, a swimming pool, basketball courts, and a baseball field. This park is quite different to Pease Park, as this park is targeted towards children. However, that does not excuse the fact that this park can be updated. The addition of more trees to fill in any blank spaces can give more available shade to the park. Also, the playground could use imaginative designing that can come straight from children.

In conclusion, green spaces can be converted to reliable parks for citizens to use. Specifically, green spaces in urban areas. Allowing green scenery in areas that are predominantly grey and black will bring citizens to breathe in a little bit of fresh air. Being in a crowded city can be tiring and put some people in a sour mood. With urban parks, that headache can go away, and allow individuals to relax.