Envisioning a Baltimore united through one connected park
By Steve Ziger, Baltimore Sun -
Imagine a Baltimore where everyone lived within a few blocks of a park. Where you could walk easily throughout the city in a safe "green network" connecting school playgrounds, tree-lined boulevards, community gardens, college campuses, public golf courses, recreational areas and parks.
As you walked, people would be commuting on bicycle trails or participating in marathons. Children would plant and care for trees as a part of their environmental curriculum. Neighbors would grow their own vegetables. Our extensive canopy of trees would provide shade, filter pollution and help filter rainwater and prevent flooding.
Baltimore would become known as a "city in a park," attracting businesses, residents and visitors. Tax revenues would increase along with property values. Communities would come together. The healthier environment would improve our public health, with cleaner air and water, and lots of great reasons to be outside.
This is the vision of "One Park," a concept of the Parks and People Foundation (<a href="http://www.parksandpeople.org">www.parksandpeople.org</a>;) to unite our diverse neighborhoods in a network of enhanced and interconnected open spaces. The nature of these connections would vary in each location, with specific designs coming from local communities and stakeholders.