I recently attended the ASLA conference in San Francisco, and after four days of walking up and down those steep hills, my flatlander's legs were quite sore. On my last day in San Fran I visited the Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Garden. Not being all that savvy with navigating bus routes, I got off at the wrong stop and had to walk several blocks to the park. While in the park I noticed I was gravitating towards the grass and dirt beside all the paved areas, and then I noticed that I wasn't the only one doing so. Every runner I saw that day in the park was running on dirt or grass, and there was a little dirt track next to most of the paved paths in the park. I realized that in a big city, where hard surfaces are 99% of the walkable area, residents seek out a softer surface whenever they can, especially runners.
With all of our emphasis on providing paved areas and ADA access in our green spaces, I think we sometimes forget that its ok to just let a surface be dirt or grass. I am now rethinking park design, particularly in large cities.
