A Different Shade of Green: The Role of Parks in Developing Local Sustainable Community
I started this blog in 2019 when we were just beginning social isolation because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I never edited it or posted it because life got in the way. I fell and broke my hip; had complications and spent almost one month in hospital and rehab center; had back surgery and then broke my right arm. But now I am mostly recovered( still using a cane) and thought I needed to get back to creative work. I left the opening paragraph as I wrote it March of 2019, but finally put the finished ideas together. Even as our state continues to open up, and the masks come off we still need the beauty and freedom of the “great outdoor” no matter where we live. CNL
As we enter a third month of social distancing because of the Covid-19 pandemic I have chosen to start this month’s blog entries with a discussion about the place city parks have in the modern urban landscape. Many of us house-bound urbanites miss the jog in the park, the kids on the swing sets, and the little league games on the playing fields as we hide from the Covid virus. But few probably stop to think about how those parks got build and why. So here is a little history about the Dallas, Texas park system which grew from one 10 acre park in 1876 to a current park system containing 406 parks covering 21,118 acres. A park system which has greatly contributed the sustainability of the Dallas community.
What I have come to understand from studying 19th century western United States and Canada is that many of the problems encountered by those hardy settlers still confront us today. We still seek to create safe, comfortable environments in which to live and prosper; we still want lives enriched by beauty and we still want to pass these things on to our descendants.
The modern challenge now is the same as the historical one: how do we create a vibrant and yet sustainable cultural and social community in which to live and how do we preserve it for future generations? How do we encourage our students, or our community at-large, that this is an important question and one worthy of extended consideration? How have some cities established parks and other cultural spaces that contribute to the creation of sustainable community, where the working definition of sustainable is “enough for everyone, forever?” The current Dallas parks system is one example of how a city seeks to provide areas where its citizens can explore, play in, and enjoy the natural resources around them. The creation of urban parks and other areas devoted to cultural activities are a demonstration of what Sharon Zukin calls “symbolic economy,” or the visible evidence of how a city demonstrates its commitment to its cultural life. (Zukin) Urban scholar, J. Mark Schuster notes that cities are “unique witnesses to the history of the arts.” Cities were places where “people congregated to exchange ideas and stimulate one another’s creativity, that the economic surplus that could support the arts was centred, and that an appreciative and critical audience was available.” They were, and are still he asserts, “cultural artifacts in themselves. . . . Many of them commissioned artists, architects, and designers to embellish them and transform them into generators of the good life. This tradition is still very much alive.” (Schuster)
When John Neely Bryan moved into north Texas in 1839 and surveyed the area in the three forks region of the Trinity River, he established what he thought would be a lucrative indian and settler trading post. Like all good entrepreneurs, Bryan left the area to survey other land knowing that what he had begun was a sure fire success. By the time he returned in 1841 the Republic of Texas had signed a treaty with the Indian tribes in the area and most of them had moved from the area, so most of his customers were gone. Bryan did not want to abandon the site, so in 1842, he invited others who had moved into the area to join him and build a permanent settlement that he called Dallas. (Dallas Historical Society- see note for name).
In 1843 Bryan married Margret Beeman and brought her to his cabin on the Trinity. By 1843 the area had a doctor, and by 1845 a lawyer had moved to town. In 1845 Dallas held it’s first election, the issue was Texas annexation by the United States. Acording historical records thirty-two people were eligible to vote, 29 voted yea and 3 nea. The area around the settlement grew in population late in 1848 the area boasted seven physicians and three general stores. In a close vote in 1849, Dallas became the county seat for a newly formed Dallas county. By 1850 Dallas had 430 residents and a building boom that lasted until the beginning of the Civil War. Unlike most frontier settlements that grew as places of defense or protection in response to expansion into the wilderness, Dallas was primarily a place of commerece. (York Enstam, 5) It was also a place where women became fairly influencial in the developing community. So much so that in 1855, when local businessman and entrepeneur Alexander Cockrell was killed his wife Sarah expanded his enterprises and became a driving force in Dallas business as well as society. She ran a hotel, a flour mill, and the toll road over the Trinity River. Also in the 1850s the Utopian Colony La Reunion, located on the banks of the Trinity River broke apart and the skilled European artisans moved into Dallas proper contributing to a burgeoning of cultural activities.
By 1860 the population of the Dallas stood at 678. After the Civil War the city attracted many freedmen looking for work, and by 1870 the population grew to 3,000. By investing in railroad building the city business leaders ensured economic expansion in the 1870s. By 1880 the population had grown to 10, 385 and the city had begun to establish facilities that represented the refined, cultural aspects of the growing city, including city parks.(Dallas Parkps.org) In 1876 ten acres at Browder Springs became the first city park in Dallas.
Dallas City Park, 1910 (Dallas Historical Society)
The Texas State Fair moved to the Dallas area in 1886, when the State Fair commission opened a park on eighty acres of cotton fields just east of Dallas. Known as Fair Park the park was added to the Dallas Park system in 1904 and periodically expanded to its present size of 277 acres.
Entrance to Fair Park, 1904 (Dallas Historical Society)
In 1911 the Dallas City council hired urban planner George Kessler to create a development plan for further expansion of the city. Known as the Kessler Plan this expansion included the parks system which grew to include 12 city parks over 247 acres by 1915. In 1923 Dallas was recognized with an award for the best park system in the United States. Between 1927 and 1930, the park system expanded to include 32 parks covering 3773acres. During the Great Depression Dallas parks benefited from the Civilian Conservation Corps and WPA programs with workers from those programs contributing to the addition of White Rock Lake and the Dallas Zoo to the park by 1938. In 1940 Dallas boasted 4 parks covering 5066 acres.
Like many cities in the United States, Dallas has expanded over the years and other city master-plans like the Kessler Plan have influenced the quality of the changes. But all of the plans included the expansion and improvement of the city parks; so that today the Dallas Park System is one of the largest in the US and includes 406 parks covering 21,118 acres. Parks with community centers, sports fields, hiking trails, picnic areas, and open green spaces cover 18,994 acres, while 1,124 acres of water house seven city lakes and three ponds. Some parks sprawl along the Trinity River, the very river that prompted John Neely Bryant to settle in the area, and one spans a freeway that intersect the business and cultural arts areas of the city.
White Lake spillway 2019 (Dallas Parks and Recreation)
Trinity River Greenbelt (Dallas Parks and Recreation)
Klyde Warren Park (Dallas Parks and Recreation)
Why spend so much time, money and effort developing parks? Because they contribute to the sustainability of a community. A sentiment echoed in the Parks and Recreation Department’s mission statement: “The Dallas Park and Recreation Department’s mission is to champion lifelong recreation and serve as responsible stewards of the city’s parks ,trails, and open spaces.”
We often take the lakes, playgrounds, swimming pools, ball fields and jogging trails for granted, but we would miss them if they disappeared. So, when you can put social distancing behind you; when the Pandemic is finally over and you can greet each one another without fear of infection; go out and enjoy the city parks of your communities. They are there waiting for you.
Sources
Dallas Historical Society – historical documents concerning the history of Dallas and the formation of Dallas City Parks system
J. Mark Schuster, “Culture in the city – cities as cultural centers” UNESCO Courier, Sept, 1996 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_/ai_18798921?tag=artBody;col1
DALLAS PERFORMING ARTS CULTURAL FACILITIES CORPORATION – RESOLUTION APPROVING CREATION OF CORPORATION AND APPOINTMENT OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS Finance, Audit and Accountability Committee. January 23, 2006
The History of Leisure and Recreation, Gary Pearson ttps://EzineArticles.com/expert/Gary_Pearson/226484
Zukin, Sharon, The Cultures of Cities, New York City, New York: Blackwell Publishing, 1995.
