Parks

Calling all Village friends, families and volunteers! On April 2, Philly's Clean-Up Day,
The Village will host Park Day 2011. Together we'll rejuvinate this magical North
Philadelphia landscape by cleaning, planting, painting, and restoring public art.
After the clean-up, we'll celebrate in true Village style with dance performances,
BBQ and live music. Details coming soon…

The Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) are partnering with local businesses and organizations to raise funds for the preservation of Wissahickon Valley Park and generate interest in environmental issues.

 
The Struggle for Nature in the City on March 23, 2011, is a panel discussion exploring the idea of sustaining natural lands within the matrix of an increasingly pervasive urban landscape. Paul Meyer, Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum, will moderate the panel. Distinguished panelists include: Drew Becher, President, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; Michael DiBerardinis, Parks and Recreation Commissioner, City of Philadelphia; Carol Franklin, prominent landscape architect and co-author of Metropolitan Paradise; and Alex Garvin, noted New York urban park expert and author. The discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. and takes place at the Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street. For more information call 215-686-5322.
An accompanying exhibition, designed and presented in conjunction with the newly released four-volume book, Metropolitan Paradise: The Struggle for Nature in the City, Philadelphia's Wissahickon Valley from 1620-2020, written by Carol Franklin and David Contosta, will be on display in the Main Lobby of the Free Library until April 15, 2011.

Last month, the City of Philadelphia unveiled Green2015, an action plan to turn schoolyards, recreation centers, public and private vacant land into accessible green spaces.Please join us as we follow-up with innovative ideas for making the Green 2015 vision a reality.
 
Cities are continuously searching for new ways to make underused spaces greener and help create the next generation of great urban parks.  Author Peter Harnik, in his newest book, Urban Green:Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities, shares his thinking on the complexities and complications (and joys!) of creating new parks.  Borrowing the best from other cities, he will discuss solutions, from reusing defunct factories and rail corridors, to eliminating parking lots and closing streets, to developing rooftop parks.

A panel of local stakeholders, facilitated by PennPraxis director Harris Steinberg, will share innovative examples of how Philadelphia is already practicing what Harnik promotes and is well on its way to achieving the goals of Green2015.  Panelists include Alexander "Pete" Hoskins, executive director of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Jamie Wyper, president of the Roxborough Conservancy, and Mark Focht, executive director of Fairmount Park.

Featuring:
 
Peter Harnik
Author, Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities

Panel
 Harris Steinberg, Executive Director, PennPraxis (Moderator)
 Pete Hoskins, President, Laurel Hill Cemetery/Member, Parks and Recreation Commission
 Jamie Wyper, President, Roxborough Conservancy
 Mark Focht, Executive Director,  Fairmount Park

Location:

The Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Commission on Parks and Recreation Public Meeting on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
at the The Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Branch, 6:00 p.m.

This lecture tells the story of the restoration and design of many previously neglected and avoided public spaces in New York such as Bryant Park and the effect these now-beautiful places have on the city around them.  Lynden Miller will talk about the design elements necessary for public space to be successful.  She will speak about design and plants but also emphasize the larger picture of what good design and plants can be used for: to soften and civilize city life and to change the way people behave and treat each other.

Public spaces must be designed for people.  In well-designed and well-cared for places, people respect each other and the plantings and this improves neighborhoods and reduces crime.  Well-maintained parks also contribute to economic growth in surrounding neighborhoods, providing tax benefits and encouraging tourism.  She knows from experience that people from all walks of life feel complimented that their community has done something nice for them and they appreciate the connection with nature that all city dwellers need. She will call attention to some of the plants that are most effective and lower maintenance that she uses in her projects.  She will show the "befores" and "afters" of various different projects around the city, how they are funded and what effects they have had on city life in New York.

Mrs. Miller is the author of award winning Parks, Plants and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape, published by Norton in 2009 and now on its second printing.  Smith College honored Mrs. Miller with their Distinguished Alumnae Award in 1999 and described her as one "who uses beauty and enchantment of public gardens to instill new pride in communities and change the personal and public experience of urban life."

The McLean Library will be open until 5:30 this evening.  The lecture will be followed by a wine and cheese reception and book signing.

Thursday, January 13, 6 pm PHS Auditorium
100 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA  19103

Join GenPhilly for an afternoon pizza and conversation to bring together professionals who foster community gardens and those who work with older adults. 
Community gardens nearby or at senior centers and housing facilities can provide elders with the opportunity to grow their own food, exercise, share their knowledge, and express creativity.  Come hear panelists who will discuss current projects and opportunities, and then participate in breakout sessions designed to connect you to resources in your own neighborhood.

INTRODUCTION: GENPHILLY AND AGE-FRIENDLY PHILADELPHIA
Kate Clark, Chair, GenPhilly & Planner, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
 
PANEL
Raechel Hammer, Vice President, Klein & Stiffel JCCs
 - The demand for community gardens in senior centers and housing facilities
 - Connecting with the Senior Volunteer Corps and the Aging Network
 
Tara Schwartzendruber-Landis, Director, Nationalities Senior Center
 - The making of Nationalities Community Garden: funding, food and philosophy
 
Sally McCabe,  Project Manager, Pennsylvania Horticulture Society (PHS)
  - How to connect with a neighborhood community garden and how to start your own
 
BREAK OUT GROUPS: ASSETS AND RESOURCES IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Sarah Low, Director of Spatial Analysis and Conservation Planning, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Supported by GenPhilly Members from: The Fairmount Park Conservancy, Klein & Stiffel JCCs, Mayor's Office of Sustainability, Mayor's Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and the Salvation Army.

Location: City Hall's Conversation Hall - Enter through City Hall's Visitor Entrance on the NORTHEAST corner of the building

 RSVP by January 26th
 Limited to 60 people

Miriam Schupacheveci, 74, hasn't ventured into a Philadelphia park in years. There aren't enough bathrooms or security personnel to make her feel comfortable. And there are too few railings for her husband, who needs support when he walks.
"I'd like to" go to a park, said Schupacheveci, of Northeast Philadelphia, "but I don't think it's safe."

Philadelphia has one of the world's largest urban park systems. And, according to census data, the city has the highest proportion of people 65 and older of any of the 10 largest cities in the country.

Yet 73 percent of Philadelphians over 60 reported never using their neighborhood park in the previous year, according to data from Public Health Management Corp.'s 2008 Household Health Survey.

That troubles local advocates for seniors because of the benefits that public parks can provide for older adults. Being engaged and connected in the community is related to older adults' being more physically active and to the length of time that seniors want to stay in their homes, according to an analysis by Allen Glicksman, director of research and evaluation for the nonprofit Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.

Regular exercise can help seniors prevent falls, the leading cause of injury or death for people 65 and older. Other research from the 2008 survey showed that people with health limitations are less likely to use public recreation facilities. So even perceived risks to unsteady legs, such as uneven steps, rickety handrails, and cracked sidewalks, could deter older adults from using parks, Glicksman said.

Hoping to close the gap, the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging has launched a citywide effort to make Philadelphia parks more "age-friendly." A draft checklist for senior-suitable parks includes amenities such as nonslip pavement, abundant shade, and programming for all ages. The plan is to make the city's current and future parks more hospitable to seniors, said Kate Clark, a planner with the corporation who is leading the effort.

As part of the initiative, Philadelphia's Parks and Recreation Department is using mapping technology to identify parks near senior centers and apply the age-friendly checklist there, said Sarah Low, director of spatial analysis and conservation planning. "Some parks could be perfectly age-friendly and still not be used by seniors because they're located in places where seniors aren't."

Parks near senior centers will be among the first transformed into age-friendly oases. "It's very exciting because there is a lot of momentum around looking at parks from an age-friendly perspective," Low said. "Nationwide, this is becoming a bigger issue because baby boomers are getting older and that population is becoming a real force."

With seniors expected to make up one-fifth of the American population by 2030, communities across the country are realizing the importance of designing parks to meet their needs, said Kathy Sykes, a senior adviser for the Aging Initiative in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In Albuquerque, N.M., a program encourages health providers to write prescriptions for park use. In New York City, free tennis, yoga, and fitness walking classes for seniors are offered in city parks.

Officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said no current initiatives specifically call for making parks more usable for seniors.

"Philadelphia is definitely an ambassador for other communities to recognize the resource of their parks," said Sykes, who helped the Philadelphia Corporation on Aging prepare its initiative. "They can make them more of a resource when they invest in them and the age-friendly aspects."

Of course, some Philadelphia parks are already known to be senior-friendly. Many of the city's squares, including Rittenhouse Square and Franklin Square, are lush with shade trees and filled with benches for weary visitors, Clark said.

Pennypack Park is also popular among seniors, including Jay Lipschutz, 64, who bikes and walks there several times a week. "It's well-maintained," he said. "The only drawback that I've seen in the usage of Pennypack Park for older people is the lack of bathroom facilities."

Yet some city parks are sorely lacking, local seniors said. Corner store owner Catalina Hunter, 60, a 15-year Hunting Park resident, said she had watched her community's 87-acre namesake space decline for a decade. "This is a park that was a little bit neglected," she said, citing litter on the grounds and insufficient lighting. Because many residents avoided the North Philadelphia park, Hunter said, seniors were left with few local options for activity and socializing. "Seniors have nothing around close by," she said.

The Fairmount Park Conservancy is working to bring safety and senior-related improvements to Hunting Park, said Meg Holscher, the conservancy's director of development. "Our parks are healthy and they're safe and they're used in the best manner possible when they are used by the communities that surround them," she said.

One area of age-friendly focus there is a community garden with raised beds. "If you're a senior or in a wheelchair, you're still able to garden with some ease," Holscher said. Other initiatives include park-wide lighting and reopening the concession building. "With 87 acres, you could easily spend a whole day there," she said. "But without having the ability to buy some water or a snack, I'm sure that deters quite a few people."

Hunter is eager to stake out a raised plot in the community garden and plant tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. The garden will be "part of the entertainment" for local seniors, she said. "You can have a garden, and you can have a group," Hunter said. "You can make a friend."

The announcement this month that Philadelphia will create 500 new acres of publicly accessible green space by 2015 means the focus on seniors will broaden.

Hank Gathers Recreation Center in North Philadelphia, for instance, will get more than 40 new trees, a shaded sitting area, and a community garden, said Michael DiBerardinis, commissioner of Parks and Recreation. That effort is for the entire community, he said, "but that does play to [the senior] audience."

The largest tract of privately owned green space in Philadelphia is now protected from development into perpetuity.

Officials at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education reached an agreement for a conservation easement on 325 acres of woods and fields in Upper Roxborough, virtually all the land the center owns.

In doing so, the center gave up the potential for tens of millions of dollars if it had sold the property to a developer. And it traded the land for $750,000 in state grant money, minus administrative fees.

"This is really satisfying," said John Howard, an architect and board member who years ago promised an ailing founder of the center that he would not leave the board until he saw the project through.

"There aren't many things in life that one can do that really extend into the far future with assurance," Howard said. "But this is just about the best way I can think of. Land is so precious. And once it's gone, it's gone."

Officials of the center signed an agreement Wednesday with the Natural Lands Trust, a nonprofit land-conservation organization, which will monitor the easement and, if necessary, enforce it.

"Philadelphia is blessed with a lot of open space . . . but when you think about the consequences of losing something like this, and what the impacts would be to the community and the ecology of this area, it's difficult to overstate the importance of this," said Molly Morrison, president of the trust.

Neighbors chimed in as well.

"It's an extraordinary thing they've done," said David Cellini, president of the Residents of Shawmont Valley Association in Upper Roxborough.

The center traces its origins to the mid-1960s, when descendants of Henry Howard Houston, a railroad magnate who died in 1895, donated land.

One of them was Henry Meigs, who secured the promise of preserving the land from Howard.

Meigs' son, Massachusetts sculptor Binney Meigs, is now president of the board. He grew up on the property - bordered by Spring Lane, Hagys Mill Road, Port Royal Avenue, and what is now the Schuylkill Bike Trail - roaming its woods, he said in a phone interview Thursday, and "it holds huge power for me."

The property encompasses two "first-order streams," Smith's Run and Meigs' Run, which are largely unpolluted from their headwaters to where they empty into the Schuylkill, a rarity in any city.

It has nesting populations of rare species like the blue-winged warbler and trees believed to be 250 years old.

One section of about 20 acres has had a deer-exclusion fence for nearly a decade, and the area inside has been cleared of invasive species and replanted with native ones.

Now, "it doesn't look like the rest of the forest," Howard said. "One hopes and dreams that this actually looks like the forest as William Penn found it."

But for most of its life, the nonprofit center, which has an annual budget of $1.2 million, has been under "substantial pressure" to lease or sell off portions, Meigs said.

At one point, a previous executive director contemplated leasing part of the land for a communications tower. "That was a rude awakening," said Bob Turino, president of the Upper Roxborough Civic Association, who also praised the easement.

Meigs said his family always wanted to see the land preserved, but the center was founded when the land's development value was "relatively modest."

Today, he said, "it's extremely valuable."

He said the family had "enormous concerns," but now "we can all rest assured that this green space will be there in perpetuity."

No one really knows how much it would have been worth, but $40 million is a figure that gained some traction in recent years.

Those involved credit Anne Bower, an associate professor of conservation biology at Philadelphia University, with tireless efforts to make the deal happen.

She came to the center first as a researcher, then joined the board and is now its vice president.

For her, it was "two years of some of the most intense work I've ever done in my career." It included overseeing surveys of plants, animals, and water resources.

Two of the main buildings at the center are a wildlife rehabilitation clinic and an education center, with labs, classrooms, and an interactive children's exhibit, a bookstore, and the Green Woods Charter School, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Another descendant, Eleanor Smith Morris, had sued in Philadelphia Orphans' Court to evict the school and halt other land development. She said some projects the center was contemplating, including a solar farm, violated the intent to preserve the land as an oasis of nature.

That was later resolved, and although the school is at the center, officials have announced it will leave in 2012 because it will have outgrown its space.

The easement process was stalled during the litigation, and officials had to race to meet a Jan. 1 deadline, when the state grant would expire.

The easement confers three levels of protection on the property, recognizing what's there now. The bulk of the property - nearly 260 acres - will have the highest protection status, in which virtually the only permitted activities are efforts to preserve it.

Thirty-four acres have midlevel protection that would allow such activities as agriculture.

A final 31 acres, which includes barns and other buildings, has the least protections.

This was a disappointment for former board member Christina Kobland, a wildlife advocate who lives in Lafayette Hill. She felt that all the property should have received the highest level of protection.

Cindy Dunn, deputy secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which awarded the grant, said the easement "really touches all the right points for our conservation program."

The grant money comes from the Keystone Fund, which is generated from a portion of the real estate transfer tax.

"A lot of land opportunities come to us, so we look for extra values," Dunn said. "It's rare that we get to do a large land-conservation project so close to the city.

When the planners of Penn Praxis designed the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware, they envisioned a bustling commercial waterfront loaded with restaurants, shopping, and, above all, green space. As development plans have begun, projects like the Race Street Pier and Pier 53 have brought parks to areas previously disconnected from green space, raising property values and public health in the process. Penn Praxis returns this week with its latest plan, Green 2015, an action plan designed to add 500 acres of open space to Philadelphia by 2015.

Green 2015 is a response to the Greenworks Sustainability Plan, issued by the Nutter Administration, to add 500 acres to the equity of the city, giving special focus to those areas without proper park access. Penn Praxis unveils this plan at the today's Urban Sustainability Forum at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

"In the report, we try to address people who might ask why we would invest in something like this during such tough economic times," says Penn Praxis Executive Director Harris Steinberg. "How do we serve those areas who are underserved? By adding those economic as well as social, environmental and public health benefits of green space."

Even with these considerations, cost is a concern. So the plan focuses first on using city-owned land to reduce acquisition costs, focusing on school yards, rec centers and vacant lands in under-greened neighborhoods, giving planners more than 1,000 acres to work with. The plan also examines storm water management goals set forth by the EPA, adding funding to these initiatives. Mayor Nutter and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Michael DiBerardinis will be on hand Tuesday to mark the official start of this action plan.

"There is a lot of collaboration across many different agencies, which I think bodes very well," says Steinberg. "It is always hard during tough economic times because you have to strike a balance between existing resources and getting the most out of your work but we expect a positive response overall."

Source: Harris Steinberg, Penn Praxis

The Nutter administration has developed a plan to convert its huge holdings of vacant lots and asphalt-covered school yards into tree-shaded greens, in a low-cost effort to satisfy a 2009 pledge to add 500 acres of parkland.

The kinds of parks envisioned in the ambitious Green2015 plan, which will be released Tuesday, would be very different from a traditional city park like Rittenhouse Square or Forbidden Drive. Instead of building a few large destinations for recreation, the city would establish an archipelago of green oases on scraps of land, some as small as a quarter acre.

Like many of the Nutter administration's recent initiatives - from the crosstown bike lanes to the new riverfront paths - this one bears out the governmental philosophy that cities can still make public improvements in hard times, but only if they do so incrementally and can get others to pay for them.

So an entire section of the report, prepared by the nonprofit consultant PennPraxis, is devoted to identifying federal and private agencies that provide grants for urban greening.

The report enthusiastically notes that Philadelphia International Airport will be required to replace 82 acres of lost wetlands if a planned $5.3 billion runway expansion goes ahead. Private owners, mainly institutions, will also be enlisted in the greening effort and encouraged to replace surface lots with trees and grass.

"It's a doable plan in a difficult economic time," said Michael DiBernardinis, commissioner of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, which sponsored the report, obtained by The Inquirer.

Within five years, he predicted, the proposals would "reshape the physicality of the city" by softening old factory neighborhoods where greenery is in short supply. It costs about $250,000 to create a one-acre passive park, the report estimates.

The plan's strategy is purposely structured to allow the city to tackle a variety of other urban problems simultaneously. By distributing pocket parks around the city, Green2015 could help Philadelphia provide more play space in underserved neighborhoods, combat childhood obesity by creating exercise space, reduce polluting water runoff reaching the city's rivers, raise property values, and attract new development.

Nutter's earlier Greenworks, in 2009, garnered the city national attention for its ambitious goals.

Nutter will release the report Tuesday morning at North Philadelphia's Gathers Recreation Center, the first on the report's list of rec centers to be greened.

In the evening, the city will hold a public presentation at the Academy of Natural Sciences, starting at 6 p.m. Although 600 people have signed up for the event, a small number of free seats may be available on a first-come basis.

PennPraxis director Harris Steinberg, who prepared the report, explained that Green2015 intentionally relies on a shop-your-closet philosophy because Philadelphia has so little money to invest in public amenities. Almost no land would be purchased to meet Nutter's 500-acre goal. The report includes a priority list of city-owned, ready-to-green spaces.

The consultants recommend that the Nutter administration start by breaking up unused concrete and asphalt at the city's schools and rec centers, since they are already a convenient draw for neighborhood children.

Unlike newer, suburban facilities, many of Philadelphia's schools and rec centers have no green space at all. One of the plan's main goals is to ensure that every city resident has a green park within a 10-minute walk, or a half mile. Currently, the report estimates, 200,000 Philadelphians lack such convenient access despite the fact that the city boasts one of the largest park systems in the country - the 9,995-acre Fairmount Park system.

"We've always talked about how much parkland we have in Philadelphia, but the problem is that it is all in one place," said Shawn D. McCaney, a program director at the William Penn Foundation, which helped fund Green2015.

The plan also targets other areas ripe for greening, such as vacant lots, abandoned railroad rights-of-way, waste ground below elevated highways, and the banks of neglected streams. Several much-discussed projects, including the Reading Viaduct in the Loft District and the Logan triangle off Roosevelt Boulevard, are high on the list of greening projects.

Green2015 is as much about managing stormwater runoff as it is about creating parks. The Philadelphia Water Department has its own plan, called Green City, Clean Waters, which lays out a strategy for replacing asphalt and concrete - including some city streets - with planted and porous surfaces. The department hopes to cut runoff pollution in half by 2030, Deputy Commissioner Howard M. Neukrug said.

Part of what makes Nutter's 500-acre goal obtainable is the accounting method for tallying new park space.

The report estimates that 100 acres have already been greened through existing programs, such as the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society's Clean-and-Green effort, which has been planting abandoned lots with grass since the days of the Street administration. Several public schools, such as Greenfield in Center City, have recently raised money on their own to soften their play areas.

The report makes no provision in its accounting for subtracting naturally green land lost to asphalt as a result of new construction, such as the recently completed SugarHouse Casino.

That project covered the better part of its 21-acre site with a surface parking lot, although it did provide the public with a generous waterfront path. And while the airport may fund 82 new green acres, it plans to fill in the equivalent amount of wetlands.

In the future, some of the 500 acres planned under Green2015 won't be visibly green at all. Because the city is as interested in controlling runoff as in building new playgrounds, some ordinary asphalt lots will be repaved with porous asphalt, a product that absorbs rainwater much like a lawn.

The city may eventually use porous asphalt for all of its streets.

As Steinberg noted, the city should be able to divert some of the $21 million it now spends each year to maintain vacant lots to creating passive green space.

The plan also calls for the city to step up efforts to train volunteers to handle maintenance and tree-planting at the new mini-parks.

But, as a backup, it advises the city to design the spaces to be as self-sustaining as possible, with no-mow plants such as buffalo grass.