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Greenspaces (1 of 2)
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| © The Field Museum, photo by Rod Sellers |
Vast acres of greenspaces weave throughout the Lake Calumet region. They are places where residents, institutions, and the environment interact. Whether parks, forest preserves, or informal open spaces, greenspaces are shaped by the location of industry, political interests and boundaries, and the people who visit and use them. By studying the ways in which people use greenspaces, we learned that they are sites of current environmental activism. Because people often come together socially in greenspaces, they are also sites of potential outreach and capacity building.
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 Residents use greenspaces in a variety of ways. Many hold special meanings for residents, and many residents have personal histories of particular places. Areas are appreciated and valued by residents for their settings, which are described as 'peaceful,' 'pretty,' and 'wild,' and are sources of relaxation and interaction with the outdoors.
- There is often contradiction between how residents, industry, and governmental groups perceive and value how greenspaces should be used -- indeed, there is often disagreement with these groups, and these disagreements need to be addressed through dialogue before action is taken or policy is implemented.
- For example, when the City of Hammond decided to revitalize the prairie and wetland area south of Wolf Lake, some park goers saw this as an effort to restrict their access to this recreational space, which has been a valued social gathering place for many years. In response, a park patron uprooted trees newly planted as part of the revitalization project, in an effort to reclaim the place that was special to them.
- In contrast, one angler told researchers of an encounter he had had with the caretaker at Oxbow lake.He had asked the care taker if he could dig out a spot to have better access to the water, the care-taker told him that was fine as long as he didn't get carried away. After that interaction, the angler took special care to look after the area while he was fishing.
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