As children growing up in Montreal, Toody Maher and her brothers lovedtheir local park. They spent long afternoons playing with other children andlearning critical social, cognitive and physical skills. Today, Maher lives in Richmond, California, a city with one of the highestcrime rates in the United States. The parks and children's playgroundsin its inner-city neighborhoods are neglected and unused. Two years ago, ToodyMaher made it her mission to transform Richmond's public spaces, starting with oneof the little neighborhood parks known as playlots.
The Elm playlot sitsin the middle of the Iron Triangle, one of Richmond's most crime-ridden neighborhoods.The neglected jungle gym is spray-painted with graffiti and the dry grass isoften littered with trash containing used condoms, cigarette butts, hypodermicneedles and empty gun shell casings. Most afternoons, when kids are out ofschool and could be playing there, the park is empty.
Toody Maher often visits the playlotand longs to see it filled with children. "I like to say that [parks] are'the energetic hubs of community life' and they inherently have tremendouspower. So when I see parks that are just so un-thoughtfully made, and so un-thoughtfullyattended to, it's very disturbing," Maher said.
Maher says parks are public commonspaces, "that breathe life and serve children and families who surroundthem."
One of the biggest problems withAmerican parks is they are static and unimaginatively designed, with fewamenities, said Maher. "There's play equipment awkwardly put on plots ofland that doesn't relate in any way or bind the neighborhood together." And, she observed that there's not a lot to doin many parks. "They're just empty pieces of land in the middle ofneighborhoods with lots of kids and just barren."
Maher said a key elementmissing from most American parks is programming, "something going on thatmagnetizes people to even want to come there." An important part of that is an adultsupervisor trained to motivate children and stimulate their play activities.
Europe has thousands of these adventureplaygrounds, which are staffed by professional playworkers who provide safe butchallenging play areas for children. At St. John's Wood Terrace, the oldest adventureplayground in London, kids can run around freely andmake up their own games. They play basketball and cricket, gyrate on giant ropeswings and play indoor games such as table tennis and billiards.
Toody Maher used these adventureplaygrounds as role models for her vision for Richmond's Elm playlot.
But selling the city of Richmond on the idea was not easy. For thelast two years, Maher attended countless community meetings and went door-to-doorseeking support. She lobbied city officials, local agencies, non-profitorganizations and spoke with scores of neighborhood families.
Finally, her efforts finally paidoff. The city has agreed to fund 100 percent of the capital costs for fencing,bathrooms, office space, water and sewage at the Elm playlot.
To make the park safe,Maher said the city has also agreed to clean up the surrounding neighborhood."So many of the problems with crime are because of these boarded-up andvacant houses," she explained. Maherworked with city officials and non-profit agencies to purchase those homes andtransform them into affordable houses for families and children. "That way,"she said, "the park is surrounded by houses that are inhabited by families,rather than surrounded by houses that are magnets for crime."
When renovations are completed, Elmplaylot will be renamed . Toody Maher anticipates abeautiful new playground with shady walkways, benches, clean bathrooms and asnack bar.
"If we can staff the park andwe can have the vision we set out, of making it safe and welcoming and givingfolks stimulating things to do, this is going to become a valued and supportedcommunity asset and we will not have problems with crime and violence," shesaid.
Maher predicted that, "parents aregoing to wake up each day and say 'Hey, let's go down to Pogo Park at Elm playlot, because there'salways something that is going on.'"
Toody Maher plans to bring childrento the Richmond playlot soon. She said their presence will bring goodenergy to the park even before construction begins. Maher expressed hope that the new park willbecome a central hub for community activities and the first of many parks thatwill help revitalize her city's impoverished neighborhoods.