July 2, 2018
By the time you read this, the grand opening celebration of Cully Park in Northeast Portland will have taken place. I am sure the festivities and community exhilaration were palpable and joyous. This was and will continue to be a wonderful story of how a neighborhood shaped and nurtured a park into being on what was once a sad landfill. Congratulations to all the individuals and groups behind Let Us Build Cully Park and to the City of Portland for its vision, openness, creativity and commitment.
In my own Southwest Portland neighborhood, Portland Parks & Recreation opened Spring Garden Park just a few weeks ago. During a recent visit there with my granddaughter, I got to witness firsthand what happens when you take an overgrown, grassy meadow and turn it into a wonderland of activity. In a space rarely used or visited by those in that neighborhood, I witnessed children and families, many who I am guessing came from the nearby apartment complexes that boast no open spaces for play, connecting and exploring. Spring Garden offers a range of features including all-ability play structures, rocks to climb, an artist’s built "nest," a water feature, and much, much more. The joy and wonder in the children’s eyes were the telltale sign of success.
Cully Park celebrated its grand opening on June 30. Photo Portland Parks & Recreation
The role of parks is often misunderstood or downplayed as our communities deal with a broad range of serious socioeconomic challenges. But parks are important spaces where barriers between people can fall away; where play in its most creative form takes place; where we break out of our sedentary haze, move our bodies and get healthier; where neighborhoods build a sense of place; where we learn so much about the nuances of getting along with others in our complex world. Parks, potentially, are places where community gets built, where we make connections with our neighbors on shared, common ground.
It is imperative that these kinds of spaces exist in all neighborhoods, so that all people can access the many benefits they provide. Kudos to parks departments throughout the region that work tirelessly with their communities to embed these spaces where they are needed most. The commitment to an equitable distribution of green, open spaces is now expected, both externally by the community and internally within these agencies. The need to create safe spaces to congregate is paramount in these complicated times – and we know parks can provide this for so many.