Playing in Parks

Rick's Garden Doesn't Belong to Anyone  For 35 years, Rick Bridgforth has tended a garden tucked into an alley between Hanover and Grove avenues in Richmond's Fan. With flagstone paths and a green arch entrance, thousands of flowers change each season to be, in his word, " glimmerous" . He started it to stop littering and tt became a neighborhood landmark. Now a proposed carriage house could erase most of it. Rick doesn't own the land, a developer purchased it in 2023. But as a park professional, the conservation path here is clear. "There's already a place, a public space that people love and care about."  - Fan District Association Under Virginia law, adverse possession is one option: 35 years of open, continuous public use is a strong factual record. A Richmond city ordinance (§17.36) offers another: any parcel used "as a public place" for five years becomes a public space. The garden qualifies many times over. The most impactful lon...

Monroe Park supports placemaking because it functions as a true convergence point. With pedestrian routes from VCU's academic core, the Fan District, and campus housing all terminating here, it is a space people pass through and choose to stay in. Its central fountain, radiating path system, and generous tree canopy create the conditions for spontaneous social interaction that define successful public space. Established in 1851, Monroe Park is Richmond's oldest public park and sits at the western edge of VCU's Monroe Park Campus. After a $6.9 million renovation completed in 2019, the park re-opened with restored infrastructure, improved lighting, and ADA-accessible pathways. Today it draws students, Fan residents, and visitors alike into a genuinely shared urban space that belongs equally to the university and the city. For VCU, Monroe Park is a rare asset as a historic, activated outdoor room that extends the campus into Richmond without a fence or a gate. It already works...

 For Immediate Release Townville, VA - The City of Townville Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities today announced the launch of Townville Parks 2040, a comprehensive master plan that will guide the growth, improvement, and equitable distribution of public parks and recreation assets across the city through the year 2040. The initiative represents the most comprehensive examination of Townville's parks system in over a decade and will result in a data-driven, community-informed roadmap for investment, programming, land acquisition, ecological stewardship, and infrastructure improvements. The plan will address pressing questions about park access in underserved neighborhoods, aging recreation facilities, connectivity to the regional trail network, and the role of parks in Townville's response to climate change and urban heat. The Townville Parks 2040 process will unfold over 18 months and include community engagement at every stage. Residents can expect publ...

 Dear Mrs. City Manager, A Sustainability Plan for our Parks and Recreation System is the strategic foundation our city needs to lead on climate resilience while reducing long-term costs. In six months, we can produce a comprehensive guide that protects natural resources, promotes groundwater infiltration, expands the tree canopy, manages invasive species, deepens public engagement with nature, advances environmental literacy, and cuts energy use, turning our city's vision into measurable reality. A systemwide Sustainability Plan gives our team a shared vision so every capital project, every planting decision, and every maintenance contract works toward the same goals. The illustration to the right captures that vision; sun, trees, water, people, and energy all in balance, guided by intentional stewardship.  Total timeline: 6 months.

In the back of Richmond’s Maymont neighborhood sits the Maymont Community Garden and Texas Beach Skate Park. For a relatively small area, the two spaces offer just about everything you could need. A small structure with two rain barrels and a picnic table welcomes visitors into the garden, where people of all ages often gather to share potluck snacks and tend their plots. Twenty garden beds sit toward the back of the space, bordered by wild grapevines that separate them from a nearby bee box. Adjacent to the plots is a compost area with bins in different stages of decomposition, alongside a pollinator garden that supports local insects and wildlife. While some visitors come to maintain their garden plots, the space is far from exclusive to gardeners. Neighbors, walkers, skaters from the nearby park, and curious passersby often stop by to sit at the picnic table, learn about the garden, or simply enjoy the greenery. The public value of this park lies in how it brings together recreatio...

 Pocket Parks at VCU:  Click here to take the survey now!