Everyone feels their neighborhood park is the best

One thing I noticed about the neighbors who live around Merrie Christmas Park, as is the case with most Grove neighbors is that they really are boisterous when it comes to green spaces. The neighbors around Merrie Christmas Park almost sounded selfish at first, as I listened to the meeting the other night, it was almost as if they didn't want anyone to come to their park and use their park.

They even complained about the cleats from the children's soccer team, marking up and ruining the grass. It was almost as if they didn't want anyone to touch the park, just look at it from afar.

But after the meeting, I happened to be one of the last to leave and as the sun went down and it got dark, the park took on another demeanor. All the politicians and visitors were gone and just a few of the neighbors remained and they did what they probably did every night -- kids played on the swings, adults sat around picnic tables and talked, a few people walked their dogs and I could then see the special nature of the park and the neighbors. It WAS their park.

It's almost a pocket park. It is not a destination park, it's not a place where people will go out of their way to get to. There is no dog park, so dog walkers don't go there unless they live in the area, the same with the kids on the swings and the neighbors kibitzing under the big trees, they all just felt it was their own backyard, and it was. Houses surround the park and for generations, these neighbors have cherished this little park. Many lived in the neighborhood all their lives.

Many of the neighbors came up to me earlier during the meeting and told me that it was a special park, that it was not like any other park, but I told them that everyone feels that about their own park in their own neighborhood, and I believe that to be true. Each neighborhood's park is their own special place. Blanche Park and Kirk Munroe Park and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Mini Park all mean something to the neighbors who feel that their park is special and not like any other.

So it's a great lesson for the City to keep in mind -- that when they make changes to parks, they are making changes to people's way of life, they are making changes to people's backyards, literally.