“Access to public parks and recreational facilities has been strongly linked to reductions in crime and in particular to reduced juvenile delinquency” (Sherer).
“As many as two-thirds of the residents of Americas largest cities do not have access to a nearby park, playground, or open space” (Sherer).
Park space, green space, and criminal activity may not be topics you would usually group together; however, interestingly enough studies have been conducted on how ones physical environment affects the health and well-being of individuals of the community, as well as criminal activity within the area. With data such as the statistics given above, it is imperative that we, as a community, living in the fourth largest city in Texas take a deeper look into our public parks and current green spaces. My research for the semester will be conducted on observations within various high and low crime areas within the city, noting the differences in parks, green spaces, behaviors, and crime rates, and annotating the different socioeconomic groups residing in each area. Research has shown that “Time spent in natural surroundings relives mental fatigue, which in turn relieves inattentiveness, irritability, and impulsivity, recognized by psychologists as precursors to violence” (American Planning Association). One could question, with that being said, why wouldn’t we have a sufficient amount of parks or open spaces for our communities? Unfortunately, we continue are having to fight to preserve our city and neighborhood parks, rely on local non-profits to financially support recreational facilities, and just leave it the community to maintain current public parks and open spaces. Something has got to change.
So a little about myself and why I chose to conduct my research on these topics. My name is Danielle Ramirez, I am a junior currently attending St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, and pursuing a criminology degree. My passions are serving others, working with at risk youth, and making a difference within my community. Growing up, I was never exposed to environmental issues or ever knew the impact my environment had on my physical and mental well-being. Being in the position I’m in, gaining so much knowledge on the world around me, I feel it’s only right to educate those that may not be as privileged as me. My hopes for this research project is that I will be able to venture out into my community, and personally witness the environmental and social benefits parks and green spaces have on the local area and individuals living there. I have confidence that the data I collect will both help me as an individual to see what more I can do for my community, and also allow me to raise awareness on important topics beneficial to many.
Prior to conducting my observations, I conducted background research on the history of city parks, benefits of parks, the role of parks as crime generators, concerns regarding green spaces, and crime rates in various parts of the city. Supporters of neighborhood parks claim, “When adjacent to residential areas green spaces have been shown to create neighborhoods with fewer violent and property crime” (American Planning Association). Those who oppose the previous argument state that, “Neighborhood parks are associated with increased level of crime in the surrounding area” (Groff and McCord 1). With opposing sides of the argument regarding the pros and cons of parks and green spaces, it is evident that further research is in need.
Upon identifying a few of the worst crime areas in Austin by zip code, I chose to start with one area and complete multiple observations at different locations within the zip code. I kept a journal and annotated my experiences, which included what I saw, heard, smelled, and what I felt during my observations. I started with the zip code, 78702 which includes the area shaded on the map below.
Below are two different graphs, one showing the Household Income Levels and the other showing Crime Stats by Type
Throughout the rest of this post I will share my experiences at a couple of the different locations within the 78702 zip code.
This is a picture of Rosewood Neighborhood Park. In addition to the playground pictured above, the park has two tennis courts, and a swimming pool. My day here was spent in the shade under a large tree on a beautiful 70 degree sunny day. I only saw one family and one man by himself during my time here. The family consisted of one Hispanic adult male, one Hispanic adult female, and a child who looked to be about 3 years old. The one individual who was by himself was a middle aged white male, who was playing in the grass with a soccer ball. I felt at ease while siting in the park and definitely could feel myself relaxing. However throughout my time there, I heard constant sirens for what seemed to be off and on for at least 25 minutes. The playground itself seemed a bit small for a neighborhood/community park but it did seem well maintained. The bridge that you can slightly see in the picture did have some graffiti written on it, but i could not make out what it said.
My next few observations were conducted at government housing complexes. I observed the playgrounds within the buildings of each complex and noticed that each one looked almost the same as the next. These playground areas seemed a bit run down and not very well kept. During my times there, most of the children playing on these types of playgrounds were younger aged children ranging from 3-7 years old.
On one particular day I spent a few hours walking in the area and walked from one housing complex to the next, observing the area and the people. I noticed the majority of the people I saw were Hispanic or African American. I saw a total of 3 police patrol cars during my time, and heard sirens on multiple occasions. The individuals I observed outside of the homes included both male and female and usually ranged in what seemed to be 18-30 years of age. On this day, while sitting at one of the larger parks, a couple of young girls asked if I wanted to join them in a game of basketball. I gladly accepted and spent the next hour or so playing and getting to know them. The girls ranged from 8-14 years old, and all lived in the neighborhood. On the other side of the court, was a group of teenage boys who seemed to be about 14-15 years old playing basketball as well. It was interesting to observe their behaviors as well as the way they all spoke to each other. Upon completion of our games I spoke to the girls and asked how often they used the basketball courts and what they thought of their park. What I found interesting was that one of the younger girls who had to be no more than 9, told me she thought the park was too “babyish.” She felt the only thing for her and the older kids to do was play basketball, and that most of the time, to get to play you had to get there early to get a goal. This made me think, and I realized I could definitely see where she was coming from. Here were these small parks, with no more than two small slides and maybe a swing or two, but not much for anyone older than probably 7 years old. This led me to wonder if the lack of space or park facilities for older adolescents could possibly be linked to the higher rates of crime within the area. It’s something I will certainly look further into when comparing and contrasting other areas and facilities with their crime rates .
This wraps up my first blog entry! I hope you’ve enjoyed and I look forward to sharing my further experiences and observations with you guys. In my next blog I plan on making some comparisons between a high crime area and low crime area and show the difference in parks and green space availability. Until next time!
Danielle
Work Cited
American Planning Association. “How Cities Use Parks to Create Safer
Neighborhoods.” American Planning Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb.
2016. <https://www.planning.org/cityparks/briefingpapers/
saferneighborhoods.htm>.
Groff, Elizabeth, and Eric S. McCord. “The Role of Neighborhood Parks as Crime
Generators.” Security Journal (2011): 1-24. Print.
MOVOTO. “Austin, TX, 78702 Neighborhood Information.” MOVOTO Real Estate.
MOVOTO, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016. <http://www.movoto.com/austin-tx/78702/
demographics/>.
Sherer, Paul M. “The Benefits of Parks.” The Trust For Public Land. N.p., n.d.
Web. 26 Feb. 2016. <http://www.eastshorepark.org/
benefits_of_parks%20tpl.pdf>.