Activity

The issue is not one of, should all parks be recreational parks or should all parks be naturalist, heck I don’t think the issue with this article is even that we should have a balance.  Personally, I think this particular article is about the fact that this person does not have they type of park that they want in ‘their backyard’.  
 
We live in…[Read more]

Thanks Tracie for crapping on many of us with your first line.

You aren’t alone. 

sorry, hope no one is offended. just venting

“a native plant park kind of looks like a garden of weeds. Why do we still make believe there is no water in Southern California? This isn’t 1911.”
 
I totally stopped reading after this sentence. Stupid article, stupid opinion. If he wanted to walk in a green forest, then why the f* would you move to a desert? I’m tired of dealing with these…[Read more]

I am going to disagree a bit with you here. Parks serve many roles. not all have recreation opportunities. Many parks serve other functions. I think it is the term park that brings a certain image to mind.
It is true that the public thinks of parks as places to go do something in, but our parks serve many other purposes.

Not to derail this thread, but other than funding sources, average class sizes, and racial demographics, there is no demonstrable difference between public and private colleges.
 
Having said that, I agree with your points. The Colorado river has seen it’s flow reduced from roughly 22,000 cu. ft./sec in 1903 to less than 4,000 cu. ft/sec by 1980.…[Read more]

Sorry you’re going through that Chuck. I personally appreciate the honesty. Best of luck..

Aside from all the stuff that we care about, the bottom line is that the author, a layperson, feels that the park isn’t interesting enough for people to visit.
 
Regardless of the ultimate purpose of the park it still has to be a place where people want to go. I think this says alot about the direction the profession is heading in terms of…[Read more]

I ought to have done some due diligence, as Jason did, before posting.
The writer simply missed the point of the project or disagrees with it. He is not finding fault with what it is so much as carping that it is not what he wishes it to be.
But it is noteworthy that he is the editor of the local paper

Honestly, I am not sure that the writer knows what point he is trying to make. The part I latched onto was the low use of the park by citizens.
In regards to invasive species this is something Jon and I have discussed before. I do think there is a natural evolution that takes place and we are part of the global ecology. I think the line of…[Read more]

Heather, I have found, in recent visits to new landscapes, that I STILL like the sign-boards that tell you something historical/environmental, whatever..It is the simplest and most temporarily enduring way for us LA’s to convey information..Otherwise you got nothing – altho there IS the museum tour internet connection that has been…[Read more]

Looks like it is in the wrong location to draw people. If this was located within a neighborhood I would imagine they would have had a greater likelihood of attracting users. I think some of these ideas are pretty stupid…the last thing I do when out and about is to read a huge paragraph on a sign designed to teach me something. I am more of the…[Read more]

Is it really the design of a park that makes it active? I think there are a lot of well-designed parks that are simply too large to be active all the time, and/or they are in the wrong location. This park is 20 acres. It would take a lot of people to make it seem active. Its in the civic center of Malibu, which probably means there are a few…[Read more]

So you would need to be a member of ASLA to have initials that designate licensure? I like the idea that ASLA is a voluntary organization of Landscape Architects and not a governing body!!!

Yes, I thought Penn was Penn State, my mistake…
 

Thanks for the link.
 
 
My feeling is that this is a park designed for passive recreation. IMHO the author of the piece is speaking to a different type of park use, a more active use. This park serves a different purpose. I don’t know if I would call it a fake environment. We try to teach where and when we can. What is hard to evaluate is how t…[Read more]

Is the only measure of a park how many people use it? Can you count a natural area, where we don’t spend any money at all, as a great site, even  if only the occaisional person comes to find a bit of nature and peace? Or does such a space not deserve to live – would it be better as a Wal-mart?  I have found one or two bay-side spots left in San Di…[Read more]

U of penn is a private school – you are thinking of Penn state..and these are concepts one learns in grade school, and learns to respect..