Talk:Pocket park

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Comment[edit]

it seems that there is a lot of local politics involved in making an area a pocket park, regarding e.g. funding (http://www.pocketparks.com/establish/funding.asp) at least in the UK, wouldn't it not hurt to have some of that documented here? 89.150.142.174 04:05, 12 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"environmental, rather than recreational"[edit]

"often of primarily environmental, rather than recreational, importance". Often enough to be worth saying? Maybe it depends on what is meant by recreational. They are generally too small for athletic activity, but "environmental" suggests passive viewing and wildlife. New York's Paley Park, which I would have considered the classic pocket park (it is on the land that was formerly the Stork Club) is mainly a place people sit outdoors and have snacks or lunch; ditto Seattle's Waterfall Garden Park (no article, but commons:Image:Seattle_Waterfall_Garden_03.jpg here's a picture. - Jmabel | Talk 00:10, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

American term?[edit]

I suspect 'pocket park' is a US phrase, though obviously similar small urban recreational areas exist elsewhere under different names. The article doesn't make this clear at present - it's the good old WP 'all the world's America' bias yet again. --Ef80 (talk) 20:01, 14 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ef80, I think I may share your concerns. I started to look at the article's references.

The American Trails link doesn't use the term "pocket park", at all...
Neither does http://www.plataformaurbana.cl/archive/2016/01/14/morande-83-la-primera-plaza-de-bolsillo-de-santiago/
Neither does http://www.elmostrador.cl/cultura/2016/04/07/la-plaza-de-bolsillo-morande-83-un-oasis-en-la-selva-de-cemento-un-punto-de-fuga/
http://architectureau.com/articles/balfour-street-pocket-park/ does use the term, because it is the name of a specific park, but it does not define the term.
The LA Times article merely uses the term in passing...

The other references can't be checked, as they have gone 404.

As the author of the first three paragraphs, I wrote what I knew about, which was America. I fully expected others to chime in and modify the text to reflect the situation in their countries. No " good old WP 'all the world's America' bias" was intended, and it's contrary to the spirit of Wikimedia to assume it existed. Downtowngal (talk) 04:56, 22 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

No implication of bad faith was intended. This is a common unconscious bias among US WP editors. --Ef80 (talk) 10:15, 4 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to me that the four lead paragraphs, unreferenced paragraphs, may lapse from WP:No original research. Geo Swan (talk) 04:01, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a reference: https://www.nrpa.org/contentassets/f768428a39aa4035ae55b2aaff372617/pocket-parks.pdf "WHAT IS A POCKET PARK? A pocket park is a small outdoor space, usually no more than ¼ of an acre, usually only a few house lots in size or smaller, most often located in an urban area surrounded by commercial buildings or houses on small lots with few places for people to gather, relax, or to enjoy the outdoors. They are also called vest pocket parks, a term first used in the 1960’s. Pocket parks are urban open spaces on a small-scale and provide a safe and inviting environment for surrounding community members. They also meet a variety of needs and functions including: small event space, play areas for children, spaces for relaxing or meeting friends, taking lunch breaks, etc."

Or how about the description of "New Orleans: Kid's Cafe Pocket Park" at https://www.planning.org/cityparks/briefingpapers/communityengagement.htm. These are just on the first page of search results. Downtowngal (talk) 04:56, 22 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

"plaza de bolsillo"[edit]

Sebastian cuevas added a subsection about parks in Chile that seemed to be based on translating the term plaza de bolsillo as "pocket park". Google translate translates it as "pocket square". It seems to translate Plaza as Square, not park.

So, it seems to me that it could just as easily be translated as "parkette", rather than pocket park. Geo Swan (talk) 05:09, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I think that is a premature assessment. I have never heard that term used in the U.S. If you want to have a discussion about the most valid name for this page, say so. The rationale should not be, "'pocket park' is not a term used in the U.S.," because it is. Downtowngal (talk) 04:56, 22 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Philadelphia Pocket parks[edit]

Philadelphia has hundreds of pocket parks, some on public land, some on private land created and maintained by the owner, and others are squatters. Most of them are not documented on Wikipedia, but Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has over 150 parks listed in their article, some small, some huge.