Comments on: The Hidden Blessing of People’s Park http://www.thisplaceis.com/archives/44 raising awareness of people-centered place design Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:18:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Diana http://www.thisplaceis.com/archives/44#comment-1044 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:53:56 +0000 http://www.thisplaceis.com/archives/44#comment-1044 There was a similar park in Philadelphia where I used to walk my dog. It was developed as part of the Bicentennial and then pretty much forgotten, even though it's on the fringe of the city's historic area. There were homeless people camped out around the fringes of the park and on the benches. It was filled with trash, and the homeless people would yell at me early in the morning when my dog barked and woke them up. Not so pleasant. But it was the only place my dog could run around off the leash. About 10 years ago, the city cleaned it up, moved the homeless people out (where?), and fenced in the middle to make a dog run. Should have been idyllic and the perfect solution, but I actually missed it the way it was. I felt almost guilty taking my dog there after it was cleaned up. All of us prospering yuppies with our great dogs chatting about clubs and our jobs with the ghosts of those struggling people swirling around us... There was a similar park in Philadelphia where I used to walk my dog. It was developed as part of the Bicentennial and then pretty much forgotten, even though it’s on the fringe of the city’s historic area.

There were homeless people camped out around the fringes of the park and on the benches. It was filled with trash, and the homeless people would yell at me early in the morning when my dog barked and woke them up. Not so pleasant. But it was the only place my dog could run around off the leash.

About 10 years ago, the city cleaned it up, moved the homeless people out (where?), and fenced in the middle to make a dog run. Should have been idyllic and the perfect solution, but I actually missed it the way it was. I felt almost guilty taking my dog there after it was cleaned up.

All of us prospering yuppies with our great dogs chatting about clubs and our jobs with the ghosts of those struggling people swirling around us…

]]> by: adaptive path » blog » blog archive » Making Hidden Costs Visible http://www.thisplaceis.com/archives/44#comment-1005 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:45:39 +0000 http://www.thisplaceis.com/archives/44#comment-1005 [...] But I’ll end with a caveat that experience isn’t everything when it comes to hidden costs. Sometimes facing reality will make us uncomfortable, and that’s not always bad. [...] […] But I’ll end with a caveat that experience isn’t everything when it comes to hidden costs. Sometimes facing reality will make us uncomfortable, and that’s not always bad. […]

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