Where are Pensacola's best parks?


  • July 28, 2015
  • /   Krissy Heinold
  • /   community-dashboard

Terri Limerick reads at Sanders Beach in Pensacola Friday, July 24, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Studer Community Institute)

Where are Pensacola’s best parks?

A group of student researchers in the University of West Florida Kugelman Honors Program set out this spring to find the answer.

The team – made up of 60 undergraduate students led by Jocelyn Evans, professor of political science and associate dean of the UWF College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities –  evaluated 53 Pensacola city parks for safety, inclusiveness, meaningful activities, comfort and pleasurability.

They found great public spaces in neighborhoods throughout the city.

The team graded the parks on a 36-point scale based on an article by Vikas Mehta, scholar of urban/environmental design and associate professor of urbanism at the University of Cincinnati. The team’s findings can be found here.

Evans said that after she read Mehta’s article, she brainstormed a project that would challenge students to think about community in a way that applied the concept of community building to real-life experiences.

Mehta’s index includes the idea that meaningful activities occur in spaces with available food and a “variety of businesses and other uses at the edges.” Comfortable spaces provide “places to sit without paying for goods and services,” include shade and shelter, feature a variety of elements and design elements that draw the eye.

“Great parks in Pensacola – according to the Public Space Index – are located in places surrounded by meaningful activities and infused with city resources,” Evans said. “Good parks provide a variety of facilities, are located in places surrounded by safe neighborhoods, and are well-maintained.”

In those terms, the best parks are closest to downtown Pensacola.

The urban renewal of Palafox Street, the maintenance of historic Pensacola, and the new Maritime Park have created several public spaces that meet these high standards set by Mehta,” Evans said, including Alabama Square in North Hill and Bayview Park in East Hill.

“But, many of the parks in East Hill and in all the neighborhoods off Scenic Highway lack the access to businesses and food and beverages that serve to foster a “café society” so lauded by contemporary urban planners,” Evans said.

{{business_name}}Legion Field in Pensacola is one of the parks that had high scores Friday, July 24, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Studer Community Institute)

Legion Field in Pensacola is one of the parks that had high scores Friday, July 24, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Studer Community Institute)

Q: Which Pensacola parks scored best?

Evans: One of the best parks, according to the index, was Legion Field (1301 W. Gregory St. in West Pensacola). (It) provides a variety of sports facilities, playground equipment, walking trails and shelter. It now serves as the home for the Westside Branch Library, and an indoor facility provides a large, multipurpose area, kitchen and meeting rooms. The city invested great resources in this park to serve the surrounding neighborhoods and the city as a whole.

Another park with a high score ….was Sanders Beach (913 South I St. in West Pensacola). This public park provides a beautiful community center with fitness facilities, a ballroom, a kitchen, a small library, a computer lab, outdoor pavilions, restrooms, playground equipment, outdoor seating and a great view of the water.

Finally, the Roger Scott Athletic Complex (2130 Summit Blvd. near Pensacola International Airport) scores very high in terms of the meaningful activities it provides. Visitors have access to baseball, football and soccer fields, tennis courts, a swimming pool and a neighborhood resource center. There is also a dog park. This facility ranked very high in terms of comfort, safety and pleasurability as well.

{{business_name}}Linsley McMillion high-fives  Lisa Greskovich after a game with Robert Patterson and Debbie Cook at the Roger Scott Athletic Complex in Pensacola Friday, July 24, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Studer Community Institute)

Linsley McMillion high-fives Lisa Greskovich after a game with Robert Patterson and Debbie Cook at the Roger Scott Athletic Complex in Pensacola Friday, July 24, 2015. (Michael Spooneybarger/ Studer Community Institute)

Q: What were the worst parks?

Evans: Some of the lowest-scoring parks were public spaces that we might not even think of as parks at all. Others were in need of improvement to facilities.

For example, Hollice T. Williams Park, located under the interstate south of Jordan (Street) and north of Cervantes (Street), provides a swimming pool and basketball courts but is in need of a facelift.

Morris Court Park, located west of J Street and north of Cervantes, has baseball and basketball facilities as well as playground equipment, but it lacks access to food and beverages, restroom facilities and local businesses. It ranked very low in terms of comfort and safety.

Q: What patterns emerged?

Evans: Using geographic information systems to visualize our analysis allowed us to also consider the relationship of socioeconomic indicators to park quality.

We looked at crime data and income data to see whether the perceived safety of a park correlated with the actual safety of a park and whether the perceived quality of the park correlated with the average home values and per capita incomes of residents living nearby. We asked whether it is true that good parks are in good neighborhoods.

{{business_name}}Terry-Wayne-Park-2

We found that generally speaking crime density relates most closely to population density. The more people circulate through an area, the more incidents of crime are reported. Not surprisingly, much of the crime in the city of Pensacola centers on downtown and the mall. What is of most concern is the area of high crime and low traffic.

Terry Wayne East Park (just southeast of Pace Boulevard and Cervantes) scores very high in terms of perceived safety, but it is located in an area with high crime and low traffic.

Q: What surprised you the most about your findings?

Evans: It surprised me to see how many good parks we have in our area. They are sprinkled throughout many of our neighborhoods downtown, in East Hill, off Scenic Highway, in Cordova Park and off of Olive Road.

I was also surprised at just how talented my 18-year-old students really are. They had so many thoughtful insights before, during and after completion of this project. Many of them are not from Pensacola, and they enthusiastically explored our region bringing fresh sets of eyes to the places Pensacola natives often take for granted.

How they did it

UWF professor Jocelyn Evans divided the students into six groups, each led by an Honors mentor. Eachgroup visited approximately 10 locations and evaluated them using the variables identified by Mehta in creating the Public Space Index.

The students did the fieldwork over two weeks. For example, one of the dimensions is safety. To judge whether there was adequate lighting provided at night, the students had to observe the park in the evening.

Evans then worked with Honors student project manager Jessica Farrell and Nathan McKinney in the UWF GeoData Center to visualize the data.

The plan is to replicate the analysis in subsequent offerings of the course in order to improve the reliability of the findings.

Q: Why did you select Mehta’s model?

Evans: I am not an urban planner, but I do study the social meaning of civic space. Mehta's Public Space Index provides a model for evaluating the quality of our outdoor community spaces that is easily replicated. It was a theoretical approach that was sophisticated enough to expose students to academic scholarship and the research endeavor but not so sophisticated that they couldn't apply it themselves to the parks in their own community.

Q: What does the ideal park look like?

Evans: (It) would be accessible to all citizens, including those with physical challenges. It would not exclude people physically or symbolically with lockable gates or fences, etc. It wouldn't be limited in its hours of operation. It wouldn't limit activities and behaviors within the space. Visitors wouldn't perceive barriers or surveillance.

It would foster meaningful activity with flexible space that support range of activities. There would be access to food and entertainment through bordering businesses. Visitors would perceive the space as suitable to meet their needs.

(It) would provide physical comfort through free seating, shade and shelter and design elements encouraging the use of the space. Visitors would perceive the space as well maintained and free from traffic noise.

(It) would be safe. It would be visually and physically connected to the street. It would be in good physical shape. There would be good lighting. Visitors would perceive safety from crime and traffic.

Finally, (it) would be memorable. It would excite the senses. There would be a sense of enclosure within the park. There would be focal points. Visitors would perceive the space as attractive and interesting.

Q: How do you plan to utilize the findings to help the community?

Evans: There are so many things about this project that would be useful to moms’ groups, PTAs, parks and recreation departments, city government officials, neighborhood associations and local businesses.

We are trying to figure out the best way to provide meaningful information that can be used for community improvement. There’s a story about community investment  (as illustrated) by Legion Field’s high (Public Spaces Index) rating.

There’s a story about crime density, population density and perceived versus actual safety.

There’s a story about challenges to building a café society in an age of suburban sprawl.

There’s a story about income distribution and park quality.

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