[Summit] Tot Lot redesign backstory

[Greg Gerritt]

I have been involved in the effort to create more community gardens in
Providence for some time, going back to the Food Security Coalition of the
last century. More recently I served with the Urban Agriculture Task Force
and these days I volunteer with the RI Food Policy Council.  I also
conduct a fair bit of research into trends in urban agriculture and food
security around the world.  It is extraordinarily clear that communities
like Providence are going to need to grow much more of their own food in
the coming years.  Climate change will devastate agriculture  in many of
the key agricultural regions of the planet, including California's central
valley which suppplies most of the vegetables we eat in New England.  And
in a place of food insecurity like Providence, community gardens are the
answer. Even in a neighborhood like Summit.

Based on this when  the city developed a new comp plan, we made sure that
increasing the number of community gardens was included in the report and
when the city did its GreenPrint, we advocated the city develop community
gardens in parks.  Thanks to the support from the parks department and
other city agencies, this has become a reality.  At least 8 parks around
the city have gardens, and the city tries to develop one each year.

In response to this a network of community gardens has sprung up in the
city providing advice and resources to those developing gardens.  The
gardens are all managed by a committee of gardeners using the garden, and
include volunteer days.  Every garden develops a waiting list, there are
many more people who want to garden than have a place to do so in the
city.  In this neighborhood, in additon to renters, many home owners have
too little sun in their gardens to effectively grow vegetables.

To the question of why not Lippitt instead of 9th St, my answer is that if
we developed gardens in both parks, and the North Burial Ground, there
would still be a waiting list, and the additional nutritious food grown in
these gardens would all find a home in the neighborhood improving our
heath and well being.

If anyone wants to see any of my writings on the role of urban agriculture
on future prosperity in our community, email me and I will send along the
links.  Greg gerritt  ProsperityForRI.com



On 9/21/12 3:58 PM, "Anthony Arrigo" <anthony.f.arrigo at gmail.com> wrote:

>I am on the board of the SNA and it was my initial idea that got this all
>going and so let me explain my rationale for the Tot Lot (Red Park, or
>whatever) site, as well as make a few comments about the park itself.
>(All of the information below can be verified from the meeting minutes of
>the SNA board, available on the website).
>
>Several months ago I proposed to the board that we try to get a community
>garden going in the neighborhood. This was for two reasons: 1) I am a
>strong advocate of community gardening, and 2) because of the location of
>our home we have too much shade to garden in our yard.  Thus, like many
>others (including renters) we have no place to plant a garden.
>
>In the ensuing SNA board meeting discussion, the members indicated that a
>community garden effort had been going for several years, with Lippitt
>Park being the desired location, but all efforts to put a garden in
>Lippitt had been thwarted by community opposition.  Thus, the issue
>stagnated.  I agreed to take up the issue again and a subcommittee of
>myself, Greg Gerritt, Jennifer Trayner, and Jesse Polhemus was convened.
>
>In the subcommittee meetings we considered many different locations, but
>none were optimal and all were going to generate opposition by someone.
>We eventually decided that the best course of action would be to propose
>to the City Parks department a "best of both worlds" scenario, which was
>a redesign of the Tot Lot to include a community garden.  Over the past
>months we have met with Bob McMachon and the landscape architect to
>brainstorm ideas that culminated in last night's meeting -- the first of
>several meetings with the community about the redesign of the park.
>
>In my opinion, the plans that the landscape designer and parks department
>developed are outstanding (they will be available on the website as soon
>as we get an electronic copy from the Parks Department).  The plans
>provide new shade trees, new benches, new swings, a new "tot friendly"
>play area (for kids under 3), shade sails, a "trike path," remove the
>sand while adding new sand boxes, and include a community garden at the
>back of the park along the fence line, all while preserving 90% of the
>open green space at the end of the park.  I must respectfully, but
>strongly disagree with Mark that the space dedicated the new garden area,
>what he describes as "a large section of green 'running space' currently
>enjoyed by all of the kids," is going to fundamentally infringe on the
>available play space of the park.  My wife and I have been to that park
>hundreds of times, and rarely, if ever, remember kids playing in that
>area.  Additionally, the plans leave almost all of the open green space
>at the far end the park as-is.  The benefits to ALL community members --
>young and old, parents or not -- that a garden will bring, to me, far
>outweigh persevering a little-used 20ft wide strip of weeds and grass
>that some kids might wander into occasionally.
>
>If there were a movement to put a community garden at Lippitt, I would be
>all for that, though, as I mentioned it has been tried before and
>received much opposition.  However, the potential is there at the Tot Lot
>to make it a great community destination for all ages of people --
>parents, grandparents, and gardeners alike -- and to remake the park into
>a hub of community activity and pride.  That's my goal, and the goal of
>the SNA.
>
>The SNA board meets every third Monday, and the next meeting is this
>coming Monday.  We invite all members of the community to attend and
>speak about any issues you have, including this one.
>
>Regards,
>
>Anthony Arrigo
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>SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/