How to get the parks you want
Or at least have a voice in the playground design process
Hope you are all are staying safe and dry on this rainy day. Unless you are out playing in puddles on purpose! This is one of the first big rains after the Airport Fire, so our canyons near the foothills are likely to be impacted.
I hope everyone is paying attention to changes happening in the federal government and speaking up when programs you support are in danger of being cut or when policies you don’t agree with come up for a vote. It’s really a great time to get educated about who represents you and your interests — and make sure you are communicating with them on a regular basis (even if you are shy or an introvert like me!). To start, here’s the list of elected officials for Orange County. Here’s the link to see what committees your House Representative is serving on and you can also find your specific representative by typing in your zip code at the top of that website!
Which brings me to local government and what you can do to get the parks you want. I don’t just talk about this stuff; I do this stuff. Over the past 2 weeks, I spent a number of hours researching a park issue through past city agendas and meeting minutes, one hour writing a public comment which I emailed, three hours at a special city council meeting to learn about park planning, another hour preparing another public comment to present in person, and finally another hour and a half at a committee meeting. So that’s about 10 hours of my time. Since I invested all that time, I also made sure to share in-person with my neighbors and friends in the area to cut down on the research and legwork they would have to do to get up to speed on what’s happening here.
And I’m not even saying that I made a complaint! I was just asking questions so I can understand the actions they are taking and keep myself informed. So what can you do in your city, especially if you only have 15 minutes or an hour tops to spend on this? I’ll answer below! And if you aren’t interested in the fun-filled mini Civics lesson, then read past participating in the playground design process to the two Play Trips submitted by readers!
Or . . . skip what I have to say altogether and read the best thing I read this week by my favorite uplifting author and artist Brad Montague who wrote and shared: Goodness Is Not Powerless.
Always here to listen, learn & support!
Michele
As a friendly reminder, make sure you ALWAYS check official sources when you are heading out to any of the locations I share. These are merely suggestions. Only you know what works for your family. Plus, your experience may not be the same as mine — and there can be changes to the hours or unforeseen circumstances or conditions at the suggested locations.
PLAY: Getting you & kids in on playground design
This is the section of the newsletter where we talk about PLAY or connecting to nature each week. I might share a video, an article, a book, or something inspiring. Just trying to help keep you empowered to prioritize play to benefit development and preserve childhood!
Parks and playgrounds aren’t renovated very often because it’s a really expensive project in the $250K to $450K and UP range depending on features!
I’m going to zero in on just one of the meetings I went to last week and how the public (you!) can shape the playground design by using this example city. I went to this particular special meeting because I encouraged you to participate in their public comment process — and I wanted to see (for you) how that process carried through to this stage of park planning. Spoiler Alert AND Good News: The process was very true to sticking with and honoring wishes expressed through public comments.
So here’s a general order of how things work (probably oversimplified, but just so you get a general idea):
I have to admit that I don’t really know the first step here, but I’m thinking it is in the general budget planning or the city gets a grant. Or maybe you start it all by reporting to your Public Works Department about the disrepair of a park or make a public comment at a City Council Meeting that a particular park needs attention or that you see an opportunity for the city? [If you know anything about this stage, please offer insight and I can elaborate in next week’s email.]
Eventually, the city will contract with a design firm to renovate or build a new playground. In this case, let’s talk about renovations for existing playgrounds.
The design firm holds events for public comment (where you get to go and share your opinions on what you wish for your park — the sky is the limit at this stage — dream big!). Sometimes, they even offer a link to an online survey about what you want for that park. Take the survey!!! Especially if you can’t make it to the public comment events or meetings, it adds your voice to the mix when you can’t physically make it to meetings!
In this case, your comments from the events were compiled and organized and then presented to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission which serves as an advisory group to the City Council. This happens at a public meeting, so you can attend that meeting or look at the minutes to learn what is reported.
Finally, the firm takes the recommendations and priorities from the Parks and Recreation Commission — which includes your public comments — and presents to the City Council so the council members can learn what the public priorities are at the park. This was the Special Meeting I attended. A lot of residents were in attendance including families WITH KIDS!!! I loved seeing this! In this case, the kids even spoke up in the public comments period about things that were important to them with playgrounds. It was also good for these families to hear what are priorities and also comment on what won’t work for them, like having to sign up online to use the basketball court. The mom who spoke said they would just never do that. It’s a neighborhood park and all that they do is pretty spontaneous with young kids. If sign-ups were required, they’d probably never use them. I cannot overstate the incredible impact of hearing directly from the kids and families on what you want. It matters! Then your kids will hopefully see some of their “wishes” come true at the renovated playground.
Now, the City Council has taken all of that public input + commission input and will consider all that plus big-picture budget — and make their recommendations to staff.
Then the staff will do all the hard work of bringing the detailed budget and priorities back to the design firm for a creation of a conceptual design to be approved in the future.
Again, not quite sure the exact order of steps after 4. But eventually there might be a Groundbreaking (when adding a new park or starting a renovation project), a period when the park is closed to the public and active work is happening, and then a Ribbon Cutting (when the park or playground officially opens to the public).
I think many of us catch up with this process when the conceptual design is released to the public (Step 4)? But you can see that you need to be paying attention BEFORE Step 4, and make sure you know of all the ways you can add your ideas and opinions in Steps 2a, 2b, an 2c.
Cities actually WANT your public comment. It helps them serve your needs. So make sure you read agendas and watch your city’s social media to see when those public comment periods are happening or call your City and ask if there are any playgrounds about to be renovated! I do try to share in my Instagram Stories when I see them.
Please let me know if that was helpful or if you need any clarifications! I can do more research on the process if you need it!
Play Trips from Readers!
Do you have a Play Trip suggestion? Please send me YOUR Play Trips (with one horizontal photo) so I can share with everyone! Thanks to Charles and Sara for this week’s options!
Dana Point Weather-Dependent Waterfall + A Treat
Yes, it’s rainy! I tend to stay home and warm and dry! But my friend FrugalTechDad on Instagram makes up Play Trips to do in the rain! Today, he shared about the Dana Point waterfall (which is basically stormwater runoff - worth seeing at least once) with a stop at the San Juan Capistrano In-N-Out for free hot chocolate on rainy days after.
For him, the waterfall visit has become a family tradition. You can also see the top of the waterfall from the Bluff Top Trail.
Building on the LEGO Ideas!
Last week, I wrote about some random LEGO tips for families. The locations of where to find/buy LEGOs was in the paid section of the newsletter. Sara is a subscriber to the free version and sent this in, so I wanted to share! She gave me permission - and specifically said she’s not sure the complete accuracy of everything in terms of pricing, etc.
Sara wrote in to tell me: “We are a LEGO family also and I wanted to let you know about a cute shop in Orange called Bricks and Minifigs (2263 N Tustin St, Orange, CA 92865). We discovered them because my kids won certificates for free mini-figures in the Anaheim Public Library summer reading program. They have a section with all the different body parts and some accessories and the kids can build their own custom mini-figure. I believe it is normally $5 and I think I remember them having some prebuilt ones for $7. It’s a small store, but my kids spent a lot of time creating their mini-figures. They also sell loose LEGO bricks in bulk and have a lot of retired sets and (I think) collectibles mini-figures for sale. Also, the owner was very nice. Anyway, it’s a fun stop paired with lunch and/or a park visit and I thought it might go well with your tips here for LEGO lovers.
We paired the Bricks & Minifigs outing with a trip to Eisenhower Park, which is about 5 minutes north on Tustin St. They have a lake and a concrete stream that runs throughout the park, which is always fun. My kids actually spent less time at the playground and most of their time scootering and skating along the extensive sidewalks and across the bridges in the park. There was also enough open space for us to play a little whiffle ball.
We also like to go to the restaurant Loving Hut in Orange when in the area. There isn’t a ton of seating, but it’s fun to get food to go and have a picnic at the park. It’s about 10 minutes south of the Bricks & Minifigs in Orange (also on Tustin St.). I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in sampling some vegan Asian-fusion fare.”
Thanks Charles and Sara!
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