After an interview with Mitchell Silver, the New York City parks commissioner with a vision for more inclusive green spaces, we asked you to share your favourite urban parks across the US. Well known public spaces in New York certainly made the list – from Central Park to the High Line – but we also saw Chicago’s Garfield Park (with its urban goats), San Diego’s sunny Balboa Park and Boston Common. As well as being oases of greenery in busy cities, the parks were celebrated for the stories and memories associated with them: from marriages and music concerts to anti-war protests.
Are there other great open spaces, parks or community gardens in US cities? Share your pictures and stories with GuardianWitness by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ button, or if you’re out and about you can download the free GuardianWitness app for smartphones.
Central Park, New York
Conservatory Water in Central Park.
Balboa Park, San Diego
Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, is 1200 acres of lush parks and beautifully maintained gardens.
It is home to more than 15 different museums, as well as the San Diego Zoo. 2015 is the 100 year Centenary of Balboa Park, and the City of San Diego is preparing a feast of cultural celebrations to mark the anniversary.
We visited in 2012, and our photo shows the main pavilion of the Botanical Garden on a perfect Californian summer's day.
Bryant Park, NYC
Bryant Park is a great little park in New York. Central Park is awesome but this is a great gem also.
Boston Common
I've been visiting the Boston Common for better than fifty years. My two most memorable visits were (a) October 15, 1969 when I joined 100,000 of my closest friends to protest the Vietnam War and (b) two years earlier, on August 31, 1967, when Judy Garland gave a free concert to a crowd of similar size. (It wasn't Judy Garland who made it special, though. It was the girl I was with.)
The High Line, Manhattan
Angles above 10th Avenue Square on the High Line, the elevated urban park on Manhattan's West Side.
Auditorium Shores park provides heart and soul to Downtown Austin
Many people seem surprised to find out how green Austin is. In the heart of the city lies Auditorium Shores park, on the banks of Lady Bird Lake (named after the former first lady). The park illustrates the myriad benefits that public urban green spaces provide, from health and well-being (via the hike-and-bike trail) to social interaction (including among four-legged Austinites at the leash-free part of the park), environmental services, and tourism and economic impact (the park hosts events such as SXSW that draw people to Austin). I can also attest that Auditorium Shores is a fantastic place to get married -- my husband and I wed there one sunny December afternoon several years ago. Still, like many U.S. cities, Austin struggles to provide green spaces in the urban core for a car-based society. I left Austin to move to London, where my doctoral research focuses on how urban green spaces are delivered in Inner London given the focus on providing more dense residential development.
Minneapolis Parklife
Minneapolis has a network of bike trails and pathways through luscious parkland and round several lakes, bringing the country to life in this active city. Inline skating, canoeing, paddleboarding and cycling are all on offer, sculpture installations adding an extra lure. Or, at this time of year, take a stroll through parks carpeted in fallen gold and watch black squirrels dart amongst bare branches.
Minneapolis is a friendly city, the best defence against the winter blasts which blow across the plains being the warmth of its residents - and spiced pumpkin latte!
@guardiancities Belle Isle, the largest urban island park in the US. Frederick Law Olmsted contributed to the design of this #Detroit gem.
— Pam (@TSWLPamela) November 4, 2014
@guardiancities View from Federal Hill to Baltimore's Inner Harbor. pic.twitter.com/k5B2A6xqWa
— Brian Blankinship (@sh_ip) November 6, 2014
@guardiancities Really cool wind sculpture in Santa Monica at Tongva Park in front of City Hall. pic.twitter.com/XO2gMW7AXz
— Brian Blankinship (@sh_ip) November 6, 2014
Columbus Park, Chicago. Jens Jensen, landscape architect @guardiancities @GuardianWitness pic.twitter.com/SQPebo1Ol4
— Lisa Napoles (@LisaNapoles) November 16, 2014
Garfield Park, Chicago @guardiancities @GuardianWitness pic.twitter.com/0m7Ev8O4Xu
— Lisa Napoles (@LisaNapoles) November 16, 2014
