The New Waterplace Park

[CtownMikey]

I thought RI was more than 50% forests/trees

[jencoleslaw]

I thought RI was more than 50% forests/trees

i'm not sure that's true, but if you can find the reference.... I'm still looking for that damn report from US Forest Service.

[Recchia]

One of the things I was amazed at when I lived in Albany was how many trees they had. You could look out the windows of the 21-story towers at my school towards downtown and literally see nothing but green all the way until Empire State Plaza and the towers downtown. You'd never know there were rowhouses, brownstones and double deckers in the city at all when lookin at it from above.

Anyway, street trees tend to annoy the hell out of me. The ones in Pawtucket are always too low for me to walk under (and I'm only 6-foot) and the roots always mess up the sidewalks. Obviously these problems are easy to fix but it seems like cities are too lazy to properly maintain them once they go in. I'd be all for more trees if they were cared for like they should be.

[jencoleslaw]

One of the things I was amazed at when I lived in Albany was how many trees they had. You could look out the windows of the 21-story towers at my school towards downtown and literally see nothing but green all the way until Empire State Plaza and the towers downtown. You'd never know there were rowhouses, brownstones and double deckers in the city at all when lookin at it from above.

Anyway, street trees tend to annoy the hell out of me. The ones in Pawtucket are always too low for me to walk under (and I'm only 6-foot) and the roots always mess up the sidewalks. Obviously these problems are easy to fix but it seems like cities are too lazy to properly maintain them once they go in. I'd be all for more trees if they were cared for like they should be.

tree roots lift the sidewalk when the tree isn't getting enough water. the roots start traveling upwards looking for water and nutrition. If we use more grassy strips or much larger tree wells instead of just 3x3 tree pits we'd have a lot fewer sidewalk issues.

[CtownMikey]

i'm not sure that's true, but if you can find the reference.... I'm still looking for that damn report from US Forest Service.

a roger williams park representative told my class that in 8th grade... and that was in 2000 or 1999ish...

[Carter711]

Waterplace Park could really use some lighting on the downtown side, particulaly from Waterplace up to where you come out around Citizens. There's no lighting in the park itself, and because the park is so recessed from Memorial Blvd. you do get somewhat of an unsafe feeling. The kicker is there's no lighting even as you pass under the bridges.

During Waterfire is one thing, but this isn't exactly conducive for a late night jog.

[glassandsteel]

Don't worry, it's safe. I hang out down there at least one night a week. You'd be amazed at the sort of interesting folks that grace Waterplace late at night. There's one guy that plays a recorder, I swear the place feels magical when he's there. Personally, I like the darkness of it, feels like a secret. I can see the issues that come from a lack of lighting in a public place though.

[jencoleslaw]

Don't worry, it's safe. I hang out down there at least one night a week. You'd be amazed at the sort of interesting folks that grace Waterplace late at night. There's one guy that plays a recorder, I swear the place feels magical when he's there. Personally, I like the darkness of it, feels like a secret. I can see the issues that come from a lack of lighting in a public place though.

safe or not, it doesn't really matter does it? It is whether it is perceived safe by people who don't hang around down there on a regular basis...I do agree with how peaceful the less lighted places are however--when i walk from where i park my truck in federal hill and i pass thru a community garden and aside from the occassional rustle of night squirrels, it is a lovely spot to sit and contemplate the city for a moment.

[runawayjim]

safe or not, it doesn't really matter does it? It is whether it is perceived safe by people who don't hang around down there on a regular basis...I do agree with how peaceful the less lighted places are however--when i talk from where i park my truck in federal hill and i pass thru a community garden and aside from the occassional rustle of night squirrels, it is a lovely spot to sit and contemplate the city for a moment.

maybe it needs mood lighting. it'd make it a bit brighter (that pic made it look like it's pitch black aside from the flash on the camera) and safer feeling, but not take away from the solitudinal aspect.

[Cotuit]

The darkness doesn't just convey a sense of a lack of safety, it is unsafe. Unsafe as in, it's not safe to walk on a cobble stoned surface like that in the dark. Keep the mood, but get the underside of the bridges better lit for perceived and actual safety.

As for the lighting in the park itself, I have a feeling it will become a lot brighter from the ambient light of GTECH and Waterplace Condos soon enough.