What wrong with our parks?

[mickey]

Well I think I figured it out, lets see if you agree... I've noticed that our definition of park is basically empty space with a (largely unused) baseball field. But then I went to Google Street View Paris, and it lets you walk around their parks, and they have trees in an interesting arrangement (basically a nice application of landscape architecture), but here if we want to really jazz up a park we cut down all the trees and throw some weird sculptures in there. Anyone else feel this way?

[Anondson]

A lot of Minnesotans hold a fetish for wilderness habitat before usable public urban space for our parks. This extends into the belief that parks are damaged permanently and made worse when they are surrounded by anything except single family homes.

Downtown Hopkins is another example of the types of things urban parks tended to get thrown at them during the past 30 years. Quirky curving paths, senseless lumps of grassy earth and landscape rocks that make sitting on the ground impossible, benches where no one would want to sit because they point in random directions. It tries to do something with its small space and, IMO, succeeds in making the urban park even less useful. There are trees, but not beautifully situated, the shade though is the only reason to be there.

[karen nelson]

I like a park like Mears park. Not huge but big enough. Some managed naturalness, a respite. Kids like to play. Event friendly. People gather there, young old, rich poor. People take pictures there. People sit there. Walk. Play.

Of course Como is also amazing for size and all that it has, but give me a good small all around park that has some naturalized landscaping and trees and practical uses,, reason to gather there.

And yes, there is a lot for wasted green space in twin cities dedicated to recreation that most people don't do - baseball fields, and Golf courses

[mickey]

Como is very nice it slipped my mind, and Mears is a great suggestion, maybe I'll take the lightrail down there just to check it out.

When I look at the map I'm dismayed that such prime real estate is used up by golf courses MeadowBrook and Interlachen.

[David Greene]

The vast majority of Minneapolis parks don't have baseball fields or any fields at all, so I rather strongly disagree with that premise.

Most neighborhood parks have playground equipment, which is important.

We do not generally have formal gardens and a few more of those might be nice, but overall I think we have a very healthy mix of park types.

My biggest complaint is that the new (cheap) playground equipment being installed is not good for kids with sensory needs. Plastic slides are a great way to scare kids with shocks.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[cooperrez]

Minnehaha Falls Park is probably my favorite Minneapolis park. The addition of Sea Salt and subsequent pavilion renovation a couple years ago really polished up this place nicely. It feels like a European park to me. Not to mention Longfellow Gardens right next to it. I agree with Karen and also think Mears Park in St. Paul is a gem.

[MNdible]

Question:

Would a Sea Salt like cafe in Loring Park be successful?

[mickey]

Question:

Would a Sea Salt like cafe in Loring Park be successful?

I think that would be an improvement if it has lots of outside seating, the parents drink coffee and the kids run around.

My dream for loring park is something like DuPont Circle in Washington DC. Fountain in the middle on pavement surrounded by two levels of circular seating and some nice trees, then surrounded by grassy areas. I used to live right near Loring Park, and I found it to be under used. A lot of people walking from one side to the other, but not that many people hanging out there.

[Blaisdell Greenway]

I campaigned on putting a restaurant in Loring Park, as more "eyes on the grass" would address some safety issues that park users have. The current building isn't practically set up to operate as a restaurant. It would require a heavy remodel (adding a kitchen, etc.) or a new building. Neither of these options are out of the question but will likely need state bonding money to work. When I talked to the Deputy Superintendent about this over a year ago, she said they were already looking at adding concessions to the Sculpture Garden.

For reference I think Sea Salt has spent around $1M on building out their kitchen space over the last 15 years, plus the Park Board spent another million or so remodeling the rest of the pavilion.

[EOst]

I'd have higher hopes for a restaurant in Loring Park if Loring Kitchen hadn't gone under.

[twincitizen]

Gotta say no to a restaurant in Loring Park, with restaurants north of the park constantly struggling and Loring Kitchen vacant to the east. Do more to activate it sure, but no to a Sea Salt / Tin Fish operation. Maybe some designated food truck pads with electricity hookups (so they don’t have to run noisy generators)

[karen nelson]

food truck or pop-up shelters for shops, fair food seem like a good way to try something out - and to deal with seasonal issues.

I don't think the food has to be complicated to help the park, just some healthy snack food, ice cream that people know will be there if they go...

[karen nelson]

and Minnehaha park and Como park are whole different animal compared to smaller parks that tend to service a neighborhood rather than act as a huge draw from the area, so big restaurant, pavilions make sense there. I don't think Loring will ever be that type of draw - it is tweener in size and how much it draws from outside immediate neighborhood.

In smaller neighborhood parks, I see the following things seem to attract people: tot lots, natural play things (stumps, mounds, sand), man-made water features if no lake or stream (see- fake stream, cool fountain, splash pads), food/beverages, seating under shade (Gold Medal park is big fail on this one), the young adults seem to love trees big enough to hang hammocks or slack lines, art or sculpture that you can get physical with and take iconic pictures of (see - spoon bridge with cherry, Iamsterdam type word sculptures), trail connections/intersection and some areas, but not too much, of flat open lawn space for sun and open play.

My love of Mears Park is that is not that big but packs in a lot in that space, it combines both a pleasant natural green space (tons of trees, stone seats, water feature, berms/terrain) along with flat space for laying around and flat space and facilities for events, and pleasant way for pedestrian to walk through. Other more formal city parks of similar size are often aesthetic pleasing with trees and tended gardens, but not as natural feeling and seem sort of empty and sterile to me - even the ones in Paris - although those often come fairly alive because they will have sand play area for kids and kids do indeed live nearby.

When it comes to recreation - for smaller neighborhood parks that are not trying to be a rec center, I far prefer natural play things and landscaping in the park that mimics wild a bit more than just a green mowed lawn, plastic-y tot lot. Because play areas for kids can still add to natural feel to the park if designed right. Also, small dog runs can be similarly better done to look pleasant, natural with rest of park but if you want big popular one, then that sort of dog park is like rec center - different than a neighborhood park.

[amiller92]

I don't think a pavilion restaurant and the surrounding restaurants are really the same thing, though. Those are after dark places trying to draw people from farther than the neighborhood. A pavilion is about serving people who are already proximate, maybe drawing them to come more often than they otherwise would. I doubt even Sea Salt really draws that much from beyond greater south Minneapolis. And, of course, the park restaurants are seasonal.

Something like Blauwe Theehuis (http://www.blauwetheehuis.nl/), in an urban park in Amsterdam, which is tea, coffee, beverages and light food, primarily during the day makes sense to me.

Food truck pads would be a start, but it's hard to cause people to think, "oh, we should go over there" if they don't know what will be on offer.

[karen nelson]

I saw some of those restaurants in parks in Amsterdam - they were still in fairly big parks - to me it felt like they were restaurants with really cool front yards, rather than a park feature. And man do the outer areas of Amsterdam have a lot of green space that isn't very actively used beyond people commuting thru (all the space of canals doesn't help). But of course in the city they have some great, very active parks.

But for a decent sized park like Loring, it seems a fast causal place sort of like many new restaurants are now, would work - very open building at one edge of park, with say coffee, wine and beer plus simple food and kids stuff with lots of communal seating and outdoor seating. For some reason, I think of interior of the new Naughty Greek on University as the type of thing you would like on edge of a park, just add in outdoor seating. Good for community meetings or parties in off hours (or off season), kid friendly, informal roughed out feeling, communal and varied seating of onesies, twosies, or big groups.

[amiller92]

I saw some of those restaurants in parks in Amsterdam - they were still in fairly big parks - to me it felt like they were restaurants with really cool front yards, rather than a park feature.

The Vondelpark is like 4 times the size of Loring Park, but it has 2-3 other restaurants too.

Including a cafeteria-style place with mostly/only outdoor seating and a kids play area, which has me wondering if cafeteria style could work at all here. The Englischer Garten has decent quality food served cafeteria style as well, but for some reason that doesn't sound appealing in a domestic setting, and probably offers no real benefit to the fast casual/counter service places we've been doing in parks.

[karen nelson]

Most neighborhoods lack all-seaso public community gathering places , a few have a community center or a senior center, maybe some way to have park facilities operate as both amenity to park in good waether and free community center , meeting place in off season?

[min-chi-cbus]

Plastic slides are a great way to scare kids with shocks.

So....go back to metal (burns) or wood (splinters) then? What do you suggest? I don’t disagree with you per se, but playgrounds are plastic for a reason.

Sometimes THE most fun and engaging playground is one made with natural elements, like trees/logs, rocks, water, etc. Maybe that’s an ideal compromise?

[min-chi-cbus]

Minnehaha Falls Park is probably my favorite Minneapolis park. The addition of Sea Salt and subsequent pavilion renovation a couple years ago really polished up this place nicely. It feels like a European park to me. Not to mention Longfellow Gardens right next to it. I agree with Karen and also think Mears Park in St. Paul is a gem.

Agree with Minnehaha.....it’s amazing!

[mickey]

Do you think "The Commons" -- the park in front of the Vikings stadium will get much day-to-day (non-event) use? Its sort of nice, but the location is a big weird, you would need to choose that park over the river.