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Community facilities and recreational opportunities are very important in neighborhoods within cities. Providing access to these amenities should be a basic right, but sometimes Black neighborhoods suffer from disinvestment and a lack of access to adequate public facilities.
Which cities have the best community facilities and recreational opportunities in their Black neighborhoods? Community centers, public pools, parks, and libraries are important public facilities for all neighborhoods and equity of these facilities in neighborhoods and access to these facilities is something cities have been working to improve over the past decade and into the future. Which cities have the best public facilities in their Black neighborhoods and why?
Criteria
-Include community centers, public pools, public parks, and libraries etc.
-Neighborhoods should be rated based on current condition (new or renovated) of the facilities within the neighborhood
-Facilities should be strategically located within the neighborhood to provide adequate access for all residents within the neighborhood
-Include current facilities and future plans for facilities
This requires people to have physically been in and likely lived in hundreds of neighborhoods. Simply not possible.
No, I’ve been researching this across cities and a lot of cities have maps that show their facilities. I was very impressed by Chicago’s map for pools for instance. I don’t think they have a gap anywhere. It would be nice to have this type of information for many cities to compare them. How does Boston compare in Roxbury or Dorchester?
This requires people to have physically been in and likely lived in hundreds of neighborhoods. Simply not possible.
Some questions also emerge like does Atlanta have the best park system in their Black neighborhoods now or in the future? Who has the most and nicest recreation centers? Some cities are surprising. For instance, Atlanta actually has more recreation centers in Black neighborhoods than other parts of the city based on this map.
I'll take a stab at this for Syracuse, due to familiarity...
Ok, just to preface this, the city's South Side is the "blackest" side of town, but the East Side has a strip I call the East Fayette Strip in between Erie Boulevard East and East Genesee Street that ranges from lower income in public housing to solidly middle class in the Salt Springs neighborhood on the outer end that is predominantly black as well. Some may include it with the South Side, but the North Valley portion of the general Valley neighborhood is also predominantly black. Inner neighborhoods on the North and West Sides have pretty high black percentages too. The city is about 30% black alone, by the way.
While not in predominantly black neighborhoods, many go to these parks on that side of town: http://www.syrgov.net/Parks/barryPark.html (has some solid Basketball and Soccer runs, quite a few walkers/runners)
http://www.syrgov.net/Parks/comfortTylerPark.html (has a little splash area for kids to cool off when it gets hot, near Syracuse University as well, specific area/block group is more black in plurality)
A library in the Westcott neighborhood(nearby neighborhood that has a decent mix): https://www.onlib.org/locations/city...branch-library
Also has this community center in the neighborhood: https://westcottcc.org/ (has a community radio station and has a Farmer's Market during the warmer months on Wednesdays)
Also, I'm not saying it is the best, but it is just a breakdown of a city that isn't thought of as much. This also doesn't include parks/playgrounds at neighborhood schools.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 07-17-2021 at 03:36 PM..
I'll take a stab at this for Syracuse, due to familiarity...
Ok, just to preface this, the city's South Side is the "blackest" side of town, but the East Side has a strip I call the East Fayette Strip in between Erie Boulevard East and East Genesee Street that ranges from lower income in public housing to solidly middle class in the Salt Springs neighborhood on the outer end that is predominantly black as well. Some may include it with the South Side, but the North Valley portion of the general Valley neighborhood is also predominantly black. Inner neighborhoods on the North and West Sides have pretty high black percentages too. The city is about 30% black alone, by the way.
While not in predominantly black neighborhoods, many go to these parks on that side of town: http://www.syrgov.net/Parks/barryPark.html (has some solid Basketball and Soccer runs, quite a few walkers/runners)
http://www.syrgov.net/Parks/comfortTylerPark.html (has a little splash area for kids to cool off when it gets hot, near Syracuse University as well, specific area/block group is more black in plurality)
A library in the Westcott neighborhood(nearby neighborhood that has a decent mix): https://www.onlib.org/locations/city...branch-library
Also has this community center in the neighborhood: https://westcottcc.org/ (has a community radio station and has a Farmer's Market during the warmer months on Wednesdays)
Also, I'm not saying it is the best, but it is just a breakdown of a city that isn't thought of as much. This also doesn't include parks/playgrounds at neighborhood schools.
Thanks for this very comprehensive list. This is exactly the type of information I hope we get for many cities around the nation.
Seattle would score pretty well, inside city limits. City voters have passed big bond issues and levies for parks and community centers, libraries, schools, and fire stations over the last couple decades, with billions of work completed and a commitment to cover every neighborhood. Also the city's growth pattern of "urban villages" all over town has brought dozens of walkable, transit-served business districts. A focus on bus transit means nearly everyone can walk to transit pretty easily.
The Tobin, Gallivan, Hyde Park Muni, Hyde Park Y, Mildred Ave Community Center, Shelburne Center, Dorchester House, and Roslindale Y, Reggie Lewis Center, Yawkey Boys and Girls club, Dorchester Youth Collaborative, ABDC Dorchester (Geneva Ave) Dorchester Boys and Girls club are all ones I visited as a kid, all clean well run well attended well staffed and offer free summer meals. Quite a few have pools.
Thats 1 center for ever 11,000 black people in the city.
Parks I attended in Dorchester Roxbury Mattapan and Hyde Park included:
Franklin Park, Malcolm X Park, Ross Field, Ramsay park, Ryan Playground, Horacio Harris park, Trotter Playground, Walsh Playground, Clarence ‘Jeep’ Jones Park, Meigs Field, Almont Park, Cronin Playground, Stony Brook Reservations and the Brunswick-King Play Area.
The Tobin, Gallivan, Hyde Park Muni, Hyde Park Y, Mildred Ave Community Center, Shelburne Center, Dorchester House, and Roslindale Y, Reggie Lewis Center, Yawkey Boys and Girls club, Dorchester Youth Collaborative, ABDC Dorchester (Geneva Ave) Dorchester Boys and Girls club are all ones I visited as a kid, all clean well run well attended well staffed and offer free summer meals. Quite a few have pools.
Thats 1 center for ever 11,000 black people in the city.
Parks I attended in Dorchester Roxbury Mattapan and Hyde Park included:
Franklin Park, Malcolm X Park, Ross Field, Ramsay park, Ryan Playground, Horacio Harris park, Trotter Playground, Walsh Playground, Clarence ‘Jeep’ Jones Park, Meigs Field, Almont Park, Cronin Playground, Stony Brook Reservations and the Brunswick-King Play Area.
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