Tucson Needs More Park Space, Not Less
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That’s the assessment of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). Tucson ranks at a very low 30 out of 100 for free, public park space. We clearly need more park space rather than less. While the City is trying to give us more neighborhood pocket parks, a pocket park is not a place a parent can take five kids and a dog to get adequate exercise and outdoor time. In this TPL image the red areas show where new parks are needed in Tucson. There isn’t a lot of red around the center of the city because Reid Park is there. Yet this image of Reid Park gives the wrong impression. Only a small part of the green area of the park is free access space, which is something TPL values highly. Any shrinkage of Reid Park would create more need for park space in the inner city. Judging from the amount of red, Tucson needs much more park space.
Parks and the Pandemic
Because of the pandemic and climate emergency the people of Tucson, especially low-income families, need this special part of Reid Park more than ever. According to TPL, “The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that close-to-home parks are crucial to a community's quality of life. During this crisis, people have turned to their parks like never before—for fresh air, exercise, meditation, solace, and a much-needed break from the stresses of a quickly changing world.”
As TPL writes in Parks and the Pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown we need our free, open green spaces more than ever. You can't replace an area like Barnum Hill and the South Duck Pond. It's invaluable to the people and wildlife who use it and it would take about 60 years to grow trees that are as large as the ones there now. Children need areas where they can run and jump over giant tree roots, play along a running waterway and be safe. Adults are under more stress than ever and feel safe when they bring their children to the park. It's close with easy parking and free access. Kids can jump out of the car and run and play. Parents can lean against a lovely, old tree and watch their children, and become grounded again.
The people of Tucson were not clearly informed of the intention to take Barnum Hill and the South Duck Pond away from them — they did not have a venue for informed consent. The plan to take the site out of the park and destroy the trees was made before the pandemic, and before it was known how severe Tucson climate change has become. It makes sense for the City of Tucson, in light of this new information, to put its plans on hold and work with the people to develop a win-win solution that saves Barnum Hill and the south duck pond for all Tucsonans.
Save the Heart of Reid Park is working hard to let Tucsonans know that Reid Park is under threat, to work with the city to find a win-win solution, and to get legal advice. Donations are needed to accomplish all this before mid-March 2021 when the City of Tucson thinks they will begin construction on Barnum Hill.
Social Injustice
Destroying the heart of Reid Park would disproportionately affect Tucson's low-income residents. Many live in small apartments with no backyards and no place for children and pets to play. One father recently wrote to us: “It's not right. Do not remove such a beautiful park that people like me and my family, who don't have a lot of money, can enjoy. If this area becomes part of the Zoo, I won't be able to enjoy the park that I've been visiting for over 20 years. We love the pond.”
In The Outdoors are Great, But Not for Everyone, a March 26, 2021 article in The Hill, writer Jackie Ostfeld focuses on the social inequity regarding access to nature for different groups in urban environments. Ostfeld notes the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program (ORLP), a small interior program with a big impact, “directs $125 million towards parks and green space projects in urban communities. . . . It specifically focuses on equity as criteria for selecting projects to support, and without it, many Black and brown communities would continue to be denied the same kind of access to nature and its benefits, which are now enjoyed by wealthier and whiter communities.”