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How to Unite the City with a Canyonlands
Park
By
Richard Louv
San Diego Union-Tribune
September 21, 2003
1st of 2 columns exploring the creation of a San Diego
Urban Canyonlands Park
Unique among the nation's cities, San Diego is laced
with canyons, home to an extraordinary array of plant
and animal life. Steadily, almost imperceptivity, these
canyons have been chipped away to accommodate sewer-access
roads, expensive homes, bridges, roads, highways, hot
tubs. More
By
Richard Louv
San Diego Union-Tribune
September 28, 2003
2nd of 2 columns exploring the creation of a San Diego
Urban Canyonlands Park
Don't let anyone tell you that San Diegans don't care
about their canyons or their communities. Mary Ann Sandersfeld,
who lives in Golden Hill, is here to tell you how, on
Sept. 20, her neighborhood‚s Friends of the Canyon
group hosted its first Cleanup and Tours Event at the
32nd Street Canyon. She reports that 55 volunteers hauled
out shopping carts, parts of cars, 36 tires, plumbing
pipes, hunks of concrete and wood. More
CONVERSATIONS: Richard Louv's columns sparked discussion
among some members
From
Howard Blackson
To:
Richard Louv
April
12, 2004
It
is my belief that canyons are a natural open space,
necessary to better define our urban areas. These canyons
are edges, delineating the man/nature habitat, as we
need one to define the other. Edges are necessary to
reinforce and give value to a center, and vice versa.
To only define the natural environment is to limit our
scope of influence. More
From:
Richard Louv
To: Howard Blackson
(This message is forthcoming)
From
Howard Blackson
To: Group
April 13, 2004
Thank you for your response to my points. However, I
have to ask once again, is this topic truly worthy of
a regional 'civic leadership' group? The Canyonlands
Park idea is, in my opinion, ancillary to the issue
of defining San Diego's future. It defines only one
singular aspect of the region's total public realm/outdoor
spaces that define our future/culture/values and I believe
we should expand our focus to include all public spaces,
urban and rural. More
From
Mary McLellan
To Howard Blackson
April 13, 2004
Well Howard, we have to start some place, be it, as
you call, an environmental project or not. I see the
Canyonlands Park idea not so much as an environmental
project but as a reflection of who we are as San Diegans.
Being connected to nature is where historically our
most creative scientists, artists and business people,
go for inspiration. More
From
Richard Louv
To Mary McLellan
April 13, 2004
Very well put, Mary. You've jogged my mind. This endless
book I'm trying to finish includes a chapter called
"The Genius of Childhood: How Nature Nurtures Creativity,"
which reports research linking adult creativity and
even genius with early transcendent experiences in nature.
So if we're a creative community.....
From
Howard Blackson
To: Group
April 13, 2004
Right... I'm in. Thank you for the thoughtful responses,
and I appreciate my more than 15 minutes at the podium
to explain my views of our upcoming task. It is my duty
as an 'urban designer' to think in those terms, let's
see what we can accomplish. (All forests are urban!
My word, who is in charge of this state?!?! :-)
From
Michael Stepner
To: Group
April 15, 2004
This has been a very interesting discussion. I want
to get in on it if you'll allow me to add my two cents.
Words are wonderful things. They allow us to interpret
them in many different ways and still be correct.
I think the canyonland preserve concept is a great topic
for Civic Solutions to begin to focus on. More
From:
Richard Louv
To: Michael Stepner
April 15, 2004
Mike, this are (as always) terrific thoughts you’ve
offered. I too think of the San Diego Urban Canyonlands
Preserve as something more than a set of places, but
a way to think about San Diego. Perhaps the word preserve
works better than the word park (I keep going back and
forth) for this. More
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