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KEY POINT #3:
<br />When Manned as part of a system
<br />of green infrastructure, parks can
<br />help shape urban form and buffer
<br />incompatible uses.
<br />Another value of interconnected urban green space systems
<br />is that they can enhance city aesthetics, help shape urban
<br />form, and improve urban quality of life. In Seattle's
<br />University District, residents and visitors can walk only a
<br />few blocks to descend into Ravenna Park and escape the
<br />city's hustle and bustle in a protected green oasis. Strategic
<br />design and placement of green space elements across the
<br />urban landscape can provide visual relief, separate incompati-
<br />ble land uses and complement the placement of new build-
<br />ings, roads, and other city infrastructure.
<br />Minneapolis, Minnesota In 1883, the Minneapolis Board of
<br />Trade adopted a resolution to establish an independent park
<br />commission, reasoning that the rapid growth of the city "warns
<br />us that the time has come when, if ever, steps should be taken
<br />to secure the necessary land for such a grand system of Parks
<br />and Boulevards as the natural situation offers" The state legisla-
<br />ture then authorized a voter referendum that was overwhelm-
<br />ingly approved that same year. One of the first acts of the
<br />newly established board was to engage the services of two
<br />well-known landscape architects of the time, H.W. S. Cleveland,
<br />the former head of the Boston park commission, and Frederick
<br />Law Olmsted.They both pressed for acquiring parklands well in
<br />advance of the existing need.The board followed their advice,
<br />acquiring large areas of land that would have been prohibitively
<br />expensive, if even available, in later years.
<br />Theodore Wirth, parks superintendent from 1905 to 1935,
<br />was largely responsible for the development and expansion
<br />of the Minneapolis park system in its formative years.The
<br />park system he built, influenced by Olmsted's vision, reflects
<br />the individuality of the various components contained within.
<br />Today the 53-mile Grand Rounds parkway system contains
<br />numerous parks and parkways, 22 lakes within the city limits,
<br />streams and creeks, the Mississippi River, and the 53-foot
<br />high Minnehaha Falls, made famous by Henry Wadsworth
<br />Longfellow in his "Song of Hiawatha."The 6,400-acre park
<br />system is designed so that every home in Minneapolis is
<br />within six blocks of green space.The Minneapolis park sys-
<br />tem has been called "the best -located, best -financed, best -
<br />designed, best maintained public open space in America."'
<br />KEY POINT #4:
<br />Cities can use parks to reduce public
<br />costs for stormwater management,
<br />flood control, transportation, and other
<br />forms of built infrastructure.
<br />Perhaps the greatest value of an interconnected green space
<br />system is the financial benefit that may be gained when
<br />green infrastructure reduces the need for built infrastructure.
<br />When designed to include stream networks, wetlands, and
<br />other low-lying areas, a city's green space system can provide
<br />numerous stormwater management benefits, including stor-
<br />ing, carrying, and filtering storm runoff. American Forests esti-
<br />mates that the 187,767 acres of tree canopy in the
<br />Washington, D.C., metropolitan region provides 949 million
<br />cubic feet in avoided storage of water, valued at $4.7 billion
<br />annually.' Other benefits include the provision of alternative,
<br />less expensive modes of transportation. The Rails -to -Trails
<br />Conservancy estimates that one-third of weekday trail users
<br />are commuting in major urban areas with trail systems, such
<br />as Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Tampa.
<br />Believue,Washington. Flood control and stormwater
<br />management in urban areas typically involve vast networks of
<br />underground storm sewers that feed into channelized streams
<br />or ditches and eventually into natural waterways.These sys-
<br />tems are very expensive, and under extreme flood conditions
<br />they often fail. Bellevue has reclaimed its natural systems
<br />through the coordinated design of a citywide park system and
<br />a stormwater management program. In the early 1970s the
<br />city government made a decision to change its stormwater
<br />systems from an underground piped system to a less expen-
<br />sive surface drainage system.Today two city agencies, the
<br />Storm and Surface Water Utility and the Parks and Recreation
<br />Department, use the same land to accomplish multiple objec-
<br />tives.The utility bears responsibility for water resources and
<br />has a budget for land acquisition.The parks department man-
<br />ages much of the utility's land for parks, ball fields, playgrounds,
<br />interpretive areas, and trails. Many of these open space assets
<br />are also elements of the stormwater system. As a result of this
<br />partnership, both agencies have reduced their costs while
<br />achieving their diverse objectives.
<br />3 OF 4 American Planning Association
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