Cities

Blog

How preserving civil rights history shapes today’s fight for racial justice

February 17, 2021 | 1 comment

Judy Forte says there are many people who don’t know about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We are taught certain facts in our classrooms, at home, and in our communities about Dr. King’s life,” she says. “But a lot of times people are just unaware of the details that make Dr...

Read more
Blog

Thinking outside the classroom: During COVID-19, schools turn to outdoor learning

February 5, 2021 | 1 comment

A year ago, Jeremy Kabinoff was already looking for reasons for his students to spend more time outside. “There are afternoons when you check the pulse of the room and the kids are a little jittery and loud,” said Kabinoff, principal of P.S. 184 in Manhattan’s Chinatown. “Sometimes, just going...

Read more
Blog

A challenge inspired by the legacy of a remarkable conservationist

January 12, 2021 | 2 comments

As a boy, Charles Gresham accompanied his dad on a drive along Highway 1 through Big Sur, a 70-mile stretch of steep mountains along the central California Coast. The year was 1936, and the highway had just opened to cars, making Gresham and his father among the first motorists to complete what...

Read more
Blog

Neighborhood activist Taylor Toynes on parks and community power

November 16, 2020

As a kid growing up in the South Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Taylor Toynes remembers long afternoons spent exploring the creek that cuts through the neighborhood. Sunk below street level, undeveloped, and overgrown, Alice Branch Creek was a “hidden jewel … it could actually be beautiful down in...

Read more
Blog

Five questions with muralist Timothy Goodman

November 9, 2020

Timothy Goodman’s art makes order out of chaos. The New York City-based muralist and designer uses bold colors and encouraging words to liven up walls, webpages, and consumer goods, earning him industry accolades and partnerships with big-name clients like Google, Target, and Netflix. But this...

Read more
Blog

Through a “heartbreaking” year, neighborhood parks help New Yorkers roll with the punches

October 27, 2020

As New York City’s coronavirus lockdown stretched from days to weeks, Kelley Heyer grew desperate for distraction. “April and May in particular were really tough and scary, with so many people getting sick,” says Heyer. Her work as an actress and a nanny had dried up practically overnight, so...

Read more
Blog

In a neighborhood with a divided past, parks are "common ground"

October 13, 2020

This fall, we’re celebrating all the ways parks unite us: with one another, with our neighborhoods, and with the world. In one Philadelphia neighborhood, the goal of creating a healthy, welcoming public park united neighbors who worked together to overcome...

Read more
Blog

Campbell Soup Company on parks in their hometown

October 5, 2020

We’re proud to partner with the Campbell Soup Foundation to create parks for people in Camden, New Jersey. ...

Read more
Kensington Summer

The economic benefits of Huron-Clinton Metroparks

Public park and trail systems are a valuable component of healthy communities. The Trust for Public Land conducted a study of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks in Southeast Michigan and found that parks and trails generate over $90 million in economic benefits each year. They improve community health, reduce stormwater runoff, attract visitors, enhance property values, and boost economic development. 

Read more
Blog

New parks in southern Dallas? “It’s about time!”

September 22, 2020 | 2 comments

For years, students at Dallas’s South Oak Cliff High School went to class in grim conditions. “The roof leaked, asbestos was everywhere, drinking water came in lead pipes, the heating and air conditioning didn’t work,” says Derrick Battie, head of the South Oak Cliff alumni association. “Our...

Read more

Pages: