Dunwoody Greenspace: A Third of What It Should Be

My neighbor has a park bench on her front property on which she sometimes finds folks from the neighborhood that she doesn't know. Her house is at a particular turn in the street, pretty much in the center of things, a good place to stop and rest and watch the view. In short, it would make a good spot for a little greenspace. Of course, no one really wants strangers sitting on their property, but this got me curious.

Turns out Dunwoody has 130 acres of public greenspace, divided like this:

* Brook Run: 102 acres
* Dunwoody Nature Center: 18 acres
* Donaldson-Chesnut House: 5 acres
* Windwood Hollow Park : 5 acres

(What on earth is Windwood Hollow Park?! Never heard of it!)

Apparently the balanced distribution of greenspace is an indicator of neighborhood quality. The rule of thumb for city planners seems to be 10 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents for necessary greenspace. According to my calculations, our current situation in Dunwoody puts us at 3.25 acres per 1000 Dunwoody residents. That's a third of what it should be. Sure, it's green out there in Dunwoody, but that's mostly manicured (pesticide-laden) private property, not greenspace.

According to the Trust for Public Land, here's how some cities stack up:

* Minneapolis: 14.3 acres per 1000 residents

While it has many public parks, particularly along the shores of its lakes, the city is also transforming abandoned rail lines into recreation areas for biking, skating, walking and skiing.

* Seattle: 10.5 acres per 1000 residents

Famous for building parks on top of freeway tunnels, Seattle recently spent $1.3 million to create one large park out of three small ones.

* Atlanta: 8 acres per 1000 residents

The city plans to turn an old quarry near the downtown into a park and reservoir, and to link 40 parks in a 22-mile loop around the city with hiking and biking trails and light rail.

* New York: 4.6 acres per 1000 residents

With little room to grow, the city has put new parks on old piers, landfills, and even over a sewage-treatment plant. It recently broke ground on the High Line, a 6.7-acre park on an abandoned elevated rail line.

* Jacksonville, Fla.: 125.7 acres per 1000 residents

With more than 80,000 acres of parks, the city has the highest amount of parkland per capita, but much of it is inaccessible wetlands.

Common green space provides important environmental, economic and lifestyle benefits. And, ya' know what? It's just plain nice to have somewhere to go, preferably on foot or bike, to hang out and relax and enjoy our community.

I recently read an excellent book titled Supurbia: 31 Ways to Create Sustainable Neighborhoods. It offers a wide range of solutions, from grand to small. One of the littlest ideas it suggests is one we can do right now, today, without waiting for any mayor or city council:

1. Locate the common space in your neighborhood.

2. Call your homeowners association president, if you have one, or the Dunwoody Homeowners Association, and say, "Ya' know what would be good? How about we add park benches to some common spaces in our community?"

I did this already, but I didn't offer to actually go help get the benches. I need to call my neighbor back today and tell him that.

Try it, and let us know what happens! It's a little thing, but you know what? It matters.