posted on February 08, 2009

Let local groups manage their own parks, without a tangle of bureaucracy

By: JOHN BARBER
Published: FEBRUARY 7, 2009
Source: The globe And Mail

"The ice on the rink in the park is so perfect I never see my children any more. The shinny never stops. But it's so worth it when they finally do straggle home amid a jumble of sticks and skates. Suddenly it appears: The best of all possible worlds, just as I remember it from my own blissfully frozen youth, just as every boy who ever grew up in Toronto knew it. And it all starts in the neighbourhood park. Some are ample, many are no more than a speck of green (in summer) or white (in winter), but they all share the same magic power. We know it's real because it has a price, expressed in the premium fetched by properties within walking distance of a prime park. Its value is something else altogether. In the enduring best of all possible worlds, park magic would bring pride and a sense of belonging."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/