More Thoughts About Parks and Green Space

First, Courtney’s post yesterday reminded that I hadn’t mentioned that while all other parks in Almaty are, as far as we can tell, free, Central Park costs 25T ($.18) to enter. Obviously this is not enough to pay for the operations of the park, but it does seem like a nice way of reminding people that good parks cost money to maintain – and maybe it also helps build a constituency for the park. (We value what we pay for.) Something we could think about? -- even if it is “un-American.”

In addition to the big parks like Panfilov and the very big parks like Central, the city is dotted with little full and half block parks. (To me, a central Almaty city block seems about as big as a Manhattan block, although David thinks Almaty’s are a little bigger.) In the center city, every five to ten blocks or so is set aside for a lovely little park, which, inevitably, when we ask Sagat the name, he says dismissively (!), “neighborhood park.” (Likewise, none of these parks are marked on the city map we have.)

True, the weather is beautiful, but every one of these parks is busy-feeling -- full of little kids playing, young men and women sketching (big here), older people just sitting on benches…..

Also true, they’re also all sort of the same – Jim or Mark or Donna will correct me – they look like traditional (19th century?) French parks run through a Russian esthetic. A central area laid out with gardens (lots of roses); paved paths laid out like an asterisk that lead in to either a fountain or a statue, and out to the streets; unpaved pedestrian-made paths that lead out to shopping and other mid-block, on-street destinations; with a perimeter of big, mature trees; and benches both around the central area and tucked in among the trees. The trees make it all seem kind of enchanted (which is also how I remember Schenley and Frick Parks growing up in Pittsburgh).

And since the streets are all lined at curbside with mature trees, walking on the sidewalk beside a neighborhood park is also special – and a respite from the heat, which is up again today… still not as bad as you easterners are experiencing, though.

Below are a couple pictures from our neighborhood park. (Also some other pictures from our neighborhood.)