May 2001

May 1 - L.A. Times - Supporters of transforming a closed Marine base into a large urban park have launched a ballot measure designed to kill plans for an airfield on that site.

May 5 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - A look at how Music Midtown, one of the Southeast's largest outdoor music events, effects the central Atlanta neighborhood parks in which it takes place.

May 6 - Sacramento Bee - In Folsom, California, residents claim that parks and open space are just one seriously mismanaged aspect of their fast-growing city.

May 3 - Evansville Courier & Press - High-school students and members of a church pitch in on projects to upgrade their local parks this summer.

May 7 - San Jose Mercury News - 4,000 Bay Area volunteers helped restore a former airstrip to its formerly natural state - and more than 40,000 people turned out for its unveiling as a new waterfront park.

May 14 - Philadephia Daily News - Philadelphia's Fairmount Park Commission shelved plans for new centers last year, fearing they could quickly turn into "vacant buildings" that the park couldn't afford to staff or maintain.

May 14 - New York Times - In a 700-page proposal to host the 2012 Olympics, New York City includes grand plans to expand, rehab and develop new parks in all five boroughs.

May 14 - Chicago Sun Times - 166-year-old Grant Park, Chicago's "front yard," has finally got an extensive master plan. But some question whether it will it ever fly.

May 12 - Salt Lake Tribune - Residents are suing to oust City Council members that they say advanced a park-development plan other than that approved by a parks and recreation advisory committee.

May 16 - Detroit News - Kennedy Square, the site of numerous intrigues and controversies in downtown Detroit, was torn up after years of neglect to make way for the ambitious Campus Martius project.

May 15 - Seattle Times - The story of one woman's crusade to donate statuary to a local park - and the byzantine "Gift Review Policy" she encountered along the way.

May 21 - Washington Post - As the largest public works project in U.S. history nears completion, planners and officials still can't decide what to do with the vast tract of open space it will leave as its legacy.

May 20 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Spanish cities set an example that Milwaukee would be wise to follow as it embarks on a new streetscaping project and ponders improvements to its parks.

May 21 - Bergen Record - Paths winding through formerly off-limits derelict wharfs and fenced-in construction sites now draw throngs of New Jerseyans and New Yorkers.

May 18 - Detroit News - Four Detroit-area communities agreed to pay property taxes on their private parks, rather than allow non-residents to use them - and then slashed their declared value to make them almost tax-free.

May 25 - San Jose Mercury News - In a reversal of early opinion, San Jose's plan to build parking lots under parks and historic sites is now gaining momentum.

May 24 - Kansas City Star - The Civic Council's vision for Kansas City's downtown includes a new park and boulevards - and a novel method to put it all in place.

May 25 - Philadelphia Daily News - A captivating, detailed, and multi-faceted editorial series that reveals the current state of parks in this northeastern metropolis.

May 24 - Savannah Morning News - Support is lacking among community residents for the city's plans to convert a road into a recreation area.

May 31 - Anchorage Daily News - Environmentalists say the final link in this Alaskan trailway will threaten local bird species.

May 31 - Washington Post - Waterfront towns near Washington D.C. are enjoying a renaissance thanks to a new park and the tireless efforts of volunteers to keep it sparkling.

May 28 - Reason Magazine - The legendary thinker and author on the current state of cities and suburbs - and what makes Portland's parks so great.