One of our goals in the Encyclopedia project is to connect the past with the present, and another is to inspire forward-looking responses to public issues. These goals certainly were evident at our May 10 roundtable program on “The Green Country Town,” which began with this phrase from William Penn but also generated a lively discussion of ideas for the future. In addition to the topic suggestions we received for the Encyclopedia (now posted with our other topics nominations), our comment cards yielded a number of suggestions for city parks. Among them:
- Use parks to teach horticultural plant care.
- Make Logan Circle a pedestrian park again.
- Redesign Independence Mall.
- Use vacant land for temporary sculptures and parks.
- Close Kelly Drive to traffic.
- Connect green spaces in the city with signage or deliberate planting or physical connections between green/open spaces.
These are just a few of the ideas that emerged from the audience of nearly 100 people who attended the program, held at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Watch for a complete summary of the evening’s discussion to be posted later this month — and visit our Events page to register for the next opportunity to help shape the Encyclopedia project. Thanks to all who made the “Green Country Town” roundtable such a great success.