Meg Cheever and the Restoration of Our Fabulous City Parks

Pop City

It was a dark time for parks nationwide. Once, a century ago, they were the jewels of every city, blessed green spaces amidst bricks and mortar and concrete. Then, after World War II, as people bustled into cars and out to the suburbs, the grand urban parks were allowed to go to seed. Underfunded and underutilized, they suffered from what Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, in another context, termed “benign neglect.”

Now, however, everything old is new again. With more people moving into central cities, and enjoying outdoor public spaces, parks are once again being viewed as a grand civic resource, for exercise, relaxation, spiritual renewal. The more green space, the merrier. Read full article