Cool Schools Neighborhood Park

The Texas Trees Foundation started the “Cool Schools Neighborhood Park” program in 2016, aiming to alleviate “park deserts” among neighborhoods by opening school parks to the community during after-school hours. “Park deserts” are communities that do not have a park within a 10-minute walking distance. This multi-phase project is a continued partnership with Texas Trees Foundation, Trust for Public Land, Dallas Parks & Recreation, and the Dallas Independent School District. For the past several months, our design team has been working with six elementary schools throughout the City of Dallas: Arturo Salazar Elementary, David G. Burnet Elementary, Frank Guzick Elementary, John Ireland Elementary, Personalized Learning Preparatory at Sam Houston, and Reinhardt Elementary. 

As a Cool School Neighborhood Park, each school receives a new playground, between 50-100 new trees, and a new outdoor classroom. The outdoor classroom consists of a presentation area, a lab area, and a social/emotional learning area. At each school, a group of volunteer staff, administration, and teachers formed a “Green Team” to guide the design and share their expertise. Some teams wanted an outdoor classroom that was more fit for Pre-K students, and some wanted an outdoor classroom for every age group. These designs came to an even more underlying importance.

The playground edge is prepared for the installation of new playground equipment at Frank Guzick Elementary School.

The playground edge is prepared for the installation of new playground equipment at Frank Guzick Elementary School.

Playground equipment has been installed at John Ireland Elementary School, with a layer of playground-safe mulch, it will be complete.

Playground equipment has been installed at John Ireland Elementary School, with a layer of playground-safe mulch, it will be complete.

Just as we began to engage each Green Team on the outdoor classroom, the COVID-19 pandemic began and tested our adaptability as the city and country began to quarantine. Our design team had to shift gears and prepare to go 100% online. Outdoor classroom design meetings with the Green Teams and our collaborators continued through video phone calls as the installation date grew closer. But with the still rising pandemic and no clear end, we realized that these outdoor classrooms are going to be an even more valuable asset for these schools. It is safer to be outside as opposed to inside during this pandemic, and teachers and students can still learn with properly designed outdoor spaces. The upcoming school year will be a good test for these outdoor learning environments.

We do not know how long this pandemic will last or if this will happen again. But we can educate ourselves on the CDC guidelines, outdoor learning environments and how we can successfully bring those together. As Phase 3 begins, these spaces can be designed with an even more critical eye. Our profession designs the environments that people use every day, so in a time of crisis and uncertainty, adaptability is key.

Click here to learn more about The Texas Trees Foundation Cool Schools team.

Bicycle Diaries: Dallas to Fort Worth via Trinity River

Studio Outside completed an extensive urban design framework to connect the people of Dallas to the new Harold Simmons Park in the Trinity River. The study inspired me, but also made me curious about not only the city connected to the river and its park, but also the river connecting our cities.

Here in the DFW Metroplex, we have a unique urban condition. Dallas and Fort Worth are connected over 40 miles of the Trinity River. Arlington, Irving, Grand Prairie, and other Metroplex cities also encompass portions of the river in this space. Dallas, the eastern metropolis, intercepts the Trinity River just before it turns south into the Great Trinity Forest, eventually making its way to the Trinity River Bay where it disperses into the Gulf of Mexico. In Fort Worth, the Clear Fork and the West Fork of the Trinity River converge before carving out the northern edge of Fort Worth’s downtown. Despite the different geomorphic organization, the same urban river interacts with these two major cities. I wanted to investigate the Trinity River in both of these cities, but also in the liminal space between Dallas and Fort Worth. I wanted to experience the river as a continuum, not just at the points that tug on either end of the urban river system.

Route from Dallas to Fort Worth, via Trinity River.

Route from Dallas to Fort Worth, via Trinity River.

I planned a bike route that followed the Trinity as closely as possible from my home in East Dallas to downtown Fort Worth (endpoint was eventually adapted to a brewery off Main Street, as a result of an all-day headwind). The route combined gravel trails, standard bike lanes, and concrete bike paths along golf courses and through parks, to ultimately make up the 52-mile journey trans-metroplex.

THE TRAILS

I have continually asked myself one specific question as I ride through different cities around the world. “Is it the robust cycling culture that influences supportive bike infrastructure, or is it the abundance and quality of infrastructure that allows a strong bike culture to flourish?”

This trans-metroplex adventure caused me to return to this question. As I easily connected this comprehensive system, I thought to myself, Dallas and the Metroplex at large have proper bicycle infrastructure. I managed to connect 52 miles of bike paths in a metro-area that was rated the worst city for cycling just 7 years ago, for the second time.

Connectivity gaps identified while en route to Fort Worth.

Connectivity gaps identified while en route to Fort Worth.

However, there were certain gaps along the route that made connections difficult at times (denoted as red circles above). Sometimes these gaps were a few miles long in industrial areas, and sometimes it was a confusing intersection with turn-arounds and a lack of a clear crosswalk. The main artery of collector paths is established; we just need supporting veins to continue to build our bike infrastructure system. Intermediate roads that connect two trailheads need a bike lane to ensure connectivity and transitions between multi-use trails should be a concise and safe experience.

THE RIVER

The portions of the route that used the river as an organizational tool were the most successful. Using the Trinity as a binding method speaks to the whole journey. The river expressed itself in many different ways along the route.

The “chicken-or-egg, infrastructure-or-culture” question has allowed me to be critical, yet optimistic when applying it to the urban bike condition of different places. As a cycling advocate, I was unsure of moving to Dallas initially. I had been told stories of the car-dominate landscape and had read articles that plunged Dallas at the end of the “best biking cities in the country” list. However, just exceeding the one-year mark as a Dallas resident, I feel I can confidently say Dallas has the infrastructure to support a vibrant bike culture. We, as a city, are responsible for recognizing and utilizing our existing condition to change the harmful stereotype that Dallas is not for bikes. Hop on a bike and ride on our robust bicycle trails throughout the Metroplex! This is how we can become a biking city.  

Want to take advantage of the Metroplex’s bicycle infrastructure? Here is a link to the route. http://www.strava.com/routes/21987860