“Parks will bring the city up.” That’s what Mayor Duggan said. He understood that having parks brings more residents back. Today we are at one of these parks. It is Meadows Park in Detroit.
Meadows Park is a vital part of Detroit’s park system. Detroit’s parks are getting better. This is a little-known success story. The city declined for decades. Residents gauged the city’s troubles. They looked at the condition of their local parks.
Fixing up the parks hasn’t received much promotion. The Duggan administration focuses on streetlights and homes. But park-watchers have noticed the improvements.
Joe Rashid is president of the Detroit Parks Coalition. He said they see more improvements. This is more than in the past five years. Todd Scott is executive director. He directs the Detroit Greenways Coalition. Scott said he hears positive comments about Detroit parks.
The city is performing basic maintenance. They also make capital improvements. O’Hair Park is receiving money for improvements. This includes soccer fields and picnic shelters. Twelve parks have received smaller upgrades. These parks are on the edges of the city.
Bridge Magazine visited 25 parks. They saw that Detroit is paying attention. This is after many decades of inattention. It was due to money woes and mismanagement. Conditions are not what suburbanites are used to. Many parks show signs of being part of a city. The city only recently emerged from bankruptcy. Fences are rusty. Play equipment is old. The edges of parks are overgrown.
Brad Dick directs the city’s Department of General Services. He builds and maintains the parks. Dick is cautious about progress. He said not every park will look perfect. Trash is hard to control. But the city is doing pretty good overall.
Companies, groups, and churches help maintain Detroit’s parks. Of the city’s parks, many have been adopted by outside groups. Some are maintained solely by the adoptee. For others, the city helps with garbage pickup.
The Greening of Detroit looks after parks. Lear Corporation has donated millions. This was for major improvements at parks. Lear even founded the Motor City Grounds Crew. They maintain the parks Lear adopted. They help city groups do clean-ups. The Motor City Grounds Crew is not the Detroit Mower Gang. The Mower Gang is a volunteer group. They cut lawns at neglected parks.
Some parks are run by volunteers. The city abandoned these parks. Tom Rys is a Hope of Detroit board member. He said the city didn’t have the funds to care for the park. They are trying to raise funds to keep it going.
The main reason for the resurgence in parks is Duggan’s belief. He believes good parks stabilize neighborhoods. Duggan gave his department money from the bankruptcy case. The budget has more than doubled since before bankruptcy.
Dick said they can hire more seasonal workers now. With the state taking over Belle Isle, the city saves money. That money can go to other parks. Duggan and Dick face the challenge of maintaining a park system. It was built for a population of two million. The city has fewer than 700,000 residents now. There are vast areas of vacant land.
Dick said there are too many parks. But there aren’t enough parks in some areas. They are updating the strategic master plan for parks. They have areas of the city that are underserved. The city is continuing to decommission parks. This means stripping them of equipment. They turn them into vacant lots. The city hopes few people notice.
Dick refused to make public a list of ghost parks. He said you wouldn’t even know it’s a park. They maintain them on a minimal basis. They cut them a few times a year.
Residents want more from the city. Rashid said his group used to advocate to get the grass mowed. Now people want more because their park is maintained.
Petrella expects Duggan to follow through on his promises. She was excited when Mayor Duggan recognized the value of parks. He understands that parks will bring the city up. Having parks will bring more residents back. He doesn’t want to shut down parks.