PUBLIC SPACE & ENVIRONMENT Equitable access to safe and inviting public spaces is a crucial element of fostering cohesion along the Broadway corridor by providing areas for people to play, gather, interact. The maps in Figures 3-5 and 3-6 analyze three features of public spaces within the study area: parks, trees, and impervious surfaces. Residents of Ball Square and Magoun Square have access to multiple parks, including two within our study area: Nathan Tufts Park and Trum Field. An
Figure 3-4. Trum Field: This 4.8-acre park is home to various sporting facilities, including two baseball fields and basketball courts. 03. Mobility and Public Realm
additional two parks, Tufts Park in Medford and Triangle Park in Powder House Square, are adjacent to the study area. Residential accessibility to parks within and outside the study area is represented in the map in Figure 3-5. The “walksheds� on this map represent areas within a five-minute walk of residents. We found that most residents live within walking distance of a park. However, conversations with community members revealed that these parks do not maximize their potential use because they attract only specific groups of people at specific times rather than catering to the community as a whole. For instance, Trum Field accommodates active uses,
such as baseball and basketball, but is not inviting to picnickers or dog walkers. Notable exceptions are the annual Somerville Dog Festival and the Fourth of July fireworks. While infrequent at Trum Field today, this alternative type of programming is recommended by recent studies of major U.S. urban parks, which demonstrate that, when used in these ways, parks promote social and cultural diversity and contribute to the overall vibrancy of communities. (1)
Figure 3-5. Residential Accessibility to Parks within the Study Area: All residents are within a 5-minute walk to parks. Residents attending public meetings, however, voiced their dissatisfaction with park quality, suggesting the need to improve the quality of public spaces.
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