2. Living in a modern society, we deliberate most our time to work and family. As a
part of the community, knowing your place around the neighborhood is just as important
as knowing where to find a doctor when you’re sick. It wouldn’t hurt to spend sometime in
the community’s park, as it’s a vaccination to cure the potential of illness. Meeting with
your neighbor and walking your little dog around the park would enhance your health in
many ways.
That is the reason I want to introduce Essex Park. Essex Park is a place that helps the
community stay in shape. The park provides aplayground for children, sport field as well as
peace, quite green space to hang out. Essex Park has been in the community for a long
period. It witnesses the changes of the neighborhood over time. However, park becomes
old, and place of illegal activities at nighttime. Change and renovation of the park is
3. necessary to prevent it from being used by unauthorized users and physical or emotional
injuries to park users. The better of the park is an importance contribution to community
health such physical and emotional.
The use of the park is often time determined by the weather. In Portland, during the
cold and raining weather of Autumn and Winter, less people are going to the park.
However, during spring, when Spring’s sport season come at local high school in area, the
park is being used effectively by high schoolers and community members. Children
playground could only be used when the weather is drier and warmer.
The park is an important venue of the community, bringing neighbors together and
allowing for communication. According to the website city-data.com, Essex Park
4. surrounded working population generation, the average time that people are leaving to
work is around 5am and get home by 4pm. The rest of the time their day will most likely be
distributed to cooking, family time because of the neighborhood dominated by culture of
Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Hispanic culture as it’s still growing in it diversities
population. Hence, use of the park is important to the community in term of to getting to
know the neighborhood.Beside, the community surrounds by park are pretty young. The
age range that is living in the neighborhood isin the range of 0 to 50. Therefore, the park is
an important place for children to get in touch with nature rather than advancing in
technology fun like TV and games and so on.
But time doesn’t miss any one; Essex Park is needed of remodeling and renovation.
Since it’s being use by many people, it is necessary to make sure Essex Park is a safe place.
There are two things to determine the safetiness of the park.They are as followed: what are
the crime rates and construction. From Crime Mapper, crime rate has conducted as its
shown in different color, the more crimes, and the darker shade of red. The dot in middle of
the map is the corner of SE 76th AVE and SE Center St. As it shows, crime rate around Essex
Park is pretty high. However, most of the crimes are non-violent. Crime that contributed to
5. most of the crime rate is larceny (59%), theft from auto (17%), burglary (9%). Most of the
crimes related to drug law, vandalism and forgery/counterfeit.
In addition, the park is also being used for unauthorized purposes such as graffiti on
benches and other park facility is being litter. Even though, graffiti doesn’t directly have an
effect on community health. However, it presents putting an effect on the park it could
vulnerable to other illegal activities. Because the presence of graffiti shows that there aren’t
people taking care of the park, especially during the cold weather, daylight is lesser and not
many people are out playing under wet and cold day.
6. The construction of the park is also required attention. In the tennis court, the floor
is slippery by the moles and ferns built up by the wet and cold rainy weather. Also, there is
a big crack, which can cause injury for people when using the court. Some people that I had
chances to talk with said the crack on the floor caused them trip a few times, however, it
has never caused serious injuries. The most serious injury that I’ve heard of was a person
spraining her ankle while trying to catch the ball.
7. On the other hand, basketball court seems to have more potential for risk and a lot
more injuries compare to tennis court. Even though the condition of the basketball court
looks better than the tennis court, many youth who use the court for some friendly
basketball game has broke their wrist, legs, and head on the floor. The park just requires
attention for bettermaintenance so it can be safe for everyone. It wouldn’t be nice if people
getting injure when using the park.
8. Besides the court, the drinking fountain too, need a little maintance. The fountain might be
untouch during the winter, but it is a useful source of water during summer, when baseball
or soccer games are going on. The condition of the fountain water might not look good to
parents, which they might carry their own water source to their children, but what is the
point of having the fountain there when it cannot be used. A little cleaning may make it
accesible for park users during hot season if for some reason they forget their fluid supply.
9. Essex Park is surrounded by three big roads, which serve quite lot traffic. Few years ago,
when there weren’t bumps, people could easily exceed the speed limit, this is quite
dangerous for Park users that park their car on the side of the street and try to cross the
road. But now, thanks to the community concern and the city, there are bumps on the
street all around the park and on each block where stop sign doesn’t exit. It is much safer to
walk a child cross the street and not running because of furious cars speeding.
The community is slowly upgrading itself to become safe and better for living
residents. Many “community watch” signs have been put up to surround the park and in the
neighborhood. However, seem like it doesn’t get really effective when it gets dark, because
the present of marijuana smell that is so noticeable when drive by the park. Therefore,
Essex Park require attention to re –construct, and make it less accessible to user at night as
well as better use for the community. Ideally, this can be fixed by fixing the broken
equipment and construction and replacing and cleaning filthy thing like water fountain and
restroom. As the park becomes safer and cleaner, it will attract more users. People will
spend time in the park with the nature. It will enhance not just the health of individual park
10. users, but people will get to meet with others, and have a relaxing moment without having
to think of their daily stress.
In conclusion, the park is so importance to community. AsJane Jacobs, an urban
theorist, talks about the ideas of "eyes on the street" in her writings: build up a relationship
with your neighbor could make your community safer place to live. Such, Essex Park is just
a perfect environment, which create opportunity for neighbor to know others. To make the
park becomes more attractive to the rest of the community renovation and re-construction
is required. As suggest by many park user, the venue for kid need more equipment, the
tennis court and basketball court need new floors. Restroom and water fountain require
sanitation. And over all, the park needs a little change in it construction to make it less
accessible to unauthorized user when it in cold season. As the park is getting better, the
community health will increase in a brighter side, crime rate would decrease. Essex Park
community will become a perfect place to live.
Reference:
URL:http://www.gis.ci.portland.or.us/maps/police/detail.cfm?action=Crime_Summary&in
tersection_id=63397&x=7667571.208&y=673036.432&site_name=SE%2076TH%20AVE%
20and%20SE%20CENTER%20ST&city=PORTLAND&ResultCount=1
Foster-Powell neighborhood in Portland, Oregon (OR), 97206 detailed profile
URL: http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Foster-Powell-Portland-OR.html
Conley, Dalton and Ryvicker, Miriam “Race, Class, and Eyes Upon the Street: Public
Space,Social Control, and the Economies of ThreeUrban Communities” Sociological Forum,
Vol. 16, No. 4, December 2001
URL: https://files.nyu.edu/dc66/public/pdf/soc_forum_review_essay.pdf
