Thank you to Macy's and the Nashville Tree Foundation for the 10 trees planted on Earth Day in Green Hills Park. Macy's paid for the trees and provided the labor; Nashville Tree Foundation helped them select our park and provided expertise in planting. They look great! They are bur oaks, nuttal oaks, and bald cypress. The trees will be especially nice for the benches by the new wetlands area- where ducks were recently spotted! Other news:
3 Comments
Metro Sidewalk/Bike path plan - fill out this survey and mark on this map!
Metro is updating its sidewalk and bike plan - and even before any public meetings, you can make your voice heard through this short community survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RNHG7L5 Also, please mark the sidewalks and bike paths that you want on this interactive map: http://wikimapping.com/wikimap/Nashville-Davidson-County-Strategic-Plan-for-Sidewalks-and-Bikeways.html. It's pretty cool - it allows you to draw lines showing where sidewalks are needed. Save the Date for Bike to Work Day: May 20, 2016 This year's Green Hills route for Bike to Work Day will start in Green Hills Park. We'll meet in the Park, ride to Green Hills Library, go to Sevier Park, down 12th Avenue South to Demonbreun, turn on 2nd Avenue North and meet bikers from all over the city at the Historic Courthouse. More info, including a map and the time for meeting, will be posted soon. First, a little housekeeping. In the last Friends email, we said that the next step in approval of the Hillsboro High School renovation is Metro Council including it in its budget. Actually, the next step is for Mayor Barry to include it in her budget. Council passage will be in line after that. So if you want to see this amazing renovation happen, please let Mayor Barry know by filling out this form: https://www.nashville.gov/Mayors-Office/Contact-Us.aspx Now let's get to the really fun stuff - the survey results. The survey ran from November 9, 2015-February 9, 2016. Of the over 200 people who took the survey, 30% use the park once a month, 20% once a week, and 22% twice a week or more, 28% other. 43% live within one mile of the park; 37% live 1-2 miles from the park. Outside the park - the biggest takeaway was that everyone wants pedestrian access to the park. Right now 60% of park users get to the park by car. Of the other 40%, most walk and a few bike. The question "If you could change one thing about Green Hills Park, what would that be?" brought dozens of comments asking for better pedestrian access to the park. For the question asking users to rank proposed sidewalk projects, the No. 1 choice was "Protected walk/bike path along Granny White from the park to the 12 South neighborhood." In fact, out of 180 people who answered that question, the protected walk/bike path was the No.1 or No. 2 selection for 73% (130 people). Inside the park - the biggest takeaway was that people want the walking path extended. It is used by over 80% of park users. This chart shows the responses for the question "what facilities do you or your family primarily use?": Not only do 80% of the park users enjoy the walking path - but they'd like it to be longer: The second highest vote getter was adding a new water fountain. This was the first or second priority for over 40% survey respondents. And we have good news to announce on that - Councilman Russ Pulley has been talking the Parks Dept. and they've agreed to install a water fountain this spring! The next projects that people selected as their top choices were an obstacle course playground and resurfacing the tennis courts. There is no denying that the courts need some TLC. We have asked the Parks Department to let us know where the courts are on their priority list.
What comes next?
Any projects in the park must be approved by the Metro Parks Department. A key to getting approval will be the Metro Parks master plan, which is being updated this year. This plan will set priorities for parks throughout Metro. Any projects in Green Hills Park will have to fit into those priorities, or at least not conflict. And the master plan may help identify needs for our area (for example, if there is no other place in Green Hills to play tennis or to put a dog park). The master plan process will include public meetings, and we'll send out updates when those are scheduled. In the meantime, Friends of Green Hills Park is in touch with Metro Park planners to study the feasibility of proposed improvements, which ones would likely be approved, and what kind of timeline would be involved. Friends of Green Hills Park is not taking the position that everyone of these improvements should happen (obviously not every one will agree on everything), but we are exploring the options. Public input and fundraising will direct the process of working with the Parks Department. Stay tuned for an important announcement on that front! Councilman Pulley has announced a "missing link" sidewalk that will be built near Green Hills Park! The sidewalk that ends at Lone Oak and Overhill (picture one) will be continued so that it reaches Shackleford (picture two). This is a crucial connection between the park and Warfield, Temple, and Hillsboro High School. In other good news, School Board has approved the funds to completely renovate Hillsboro High School. This renovation will include walking paths and fields that can be used by neighbors when the school is not using them. The tennis courts will be moved to the outside edge of the campus, which will be nice. Big thanks to School Board member Mary Pierce for her hard work on this project. The next step will be seeing if the Mayor includes this project in the Capital Improvement Budget. One last thing - the Green Hills Park survey results are being tallied and will be shared soon. If you haven't yet filled out a survey but would like to do so, please do that by the end of the week. Here's a link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXCMQGF 1. Flashing school zone signs are going to be installed on Lone Oak and Glendale Lane! Hopefully this will slow traffic a bit for folks trying to safely walk to school and to the park! Installation is expected by the end of January. Big thank you to Councilman Pulley for getting this done. 2. The sidewalks along Granny White, connecting the park to Lipscomb University, are finally being poured. Thanks to Public Works for this project, and to the families along the route who have had to put up with all that site preparation. They look great so far! (note that the very first part poured does not have a grass strip but that the rest will) 3. A Hillsboro High School Renovation meeting will be held on Thursday from 6-7pm at the high school. The announcement says that two designs will be offered - one to keep the existing front facade and one to create a new design. But how will the rest of the lot be planned? Can we make the fields in the back a park, open to the public, with a walking path for community use? Will sidewalks be planned to allow kids safe access to walk or bike to school? If you care about this part of the renovation, please attend the meeting or email School Board member Mary Pierce at mary@pierceforschools.org and Councilman Pulley at russ.pulley@nashville.gov. "Parks Without Borders" is a new initiative to make NYC Parks more open, welcoming, and beautiful. They are taking down fencing so that parks are more inviting and easier to access: Would this be a good idea for Green Hills Park? I'm not sure what purpose the fence between the school and the park serves. Maybe it keeps people from driving onto the fields - but could this be done with some pretty shrubbery? Taking it down seems worth considering, as we think about what we want to park to look like in the next ten years. Let us know if you have an opinion on this issue.
Story in the Green Hills News today! It mentions our survey, which is can be taken on our website or at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXCMQGF So far, over 100 people have taken the survey. New ideas that have been pitched include moving the portapotty from the front to a more discreet place (or installing permanent restroom facilities) replacing the invasive japanese honeysuckle on the edges of the park with native vegetation, putting in a dog park, adding pickleball lines to the tennis courts, adding lights on the tennis courts, adding more areas for kids to play, and increasing the shade. The pictures below show a couple more landscaping and play ideas that have have been offered. We have a prepared a survey to get everyone's thoughts on the park. Here are some of the ideas that can be voted on for inside the park - do you think these are good ideas?
Mrs. Anne Wigle-Occhipinti's 5th grade design class is working on a wetlands restoration in the park! Parks has already helped by changing mowing patterns, to let the soggy area stay in a more natural state. Two benches have been placed nearby, a footbridge is coming soon, and different plantings are being discussed. Such a great way for kids to learn about their environment and to care for our wonderful park.
Do you have expertise in wetlands or interest in this project? Let us know or email Anne.Wigle-Occhipinti@mnps.org Here are some more pictures - they show the area being studied and a mass of watercress growing in the middle of the wetlands.
|
AuthorFriends of Green Hills Park is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to improving our neighborhood park, building community, and increasing walk and bike connectivity to nearby green spaces where we love to walk and play. Want to stay up to date on park happenings?
Subscribe by clicking this button: Archives
August 2023
Categories |
Proudly powered by Weebly