Why wasn't NYC's Central Park concept copied by other cities?

I’m talking about a massive park in the absolute heart of the city. Located such that is naturally surrounded by city high rises. *People are giving examples of parks that are way off in the boonies. I’m trying to say located centrally, heart of the city, you know where the high rises are. Yes I understand nyc has more, the point is centrally located.

Copied by younger cities in North Americ. You know, the cities younger than NYC that could have seen the value of setting aside a large area for parkland before it was developed.

shinigamiookamiryuu,

I don’t know about other cities, but the ones I’ve lived near were simply too irregularly shaped. NYC was able to be built like a grid, but a city like, say, Buffalo (go Bills!) is both too wibbly wobbly as well as too cold to envision a park being used as a centerpiece.

JungleJim,

Jacksonville Florida doesn’t have a large central park, but with 86 acres of park per 1000 residents and one of the largest geographical areas of any single city in the US, that’s a lot of parks. I suppose I’m trying to say there are other ways a city can embrace park culture without a central park style hub park.

someguy3,

Agreed, but there is something interesting about a huge park that can really get immersed in.

JungleJim,

That is true! Not that I would wish Jacksonville on anyone but if you ever do happen to be punished with it, the river walk and arboretum are two redeeming features, as well as the coastal marsh/beach parks on the north Bank of the river. For something almost sort of similar to central park, but not, there are several multi-block parks strung together through the riverside/Avondale neighborhood that make the area very walkable.

junker101,

San Diego has a bigger one. Go check it out.

HenriVolney,

New Orleans has City Park. Go check it out!

tallwookie,

the guy who designed it actually designed a lot of other parks in other cities as well --> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olmsted_works

steal_your_face,
@steal_your_face@lemmy.ml avatar

Chicago has a huge lakefront park as well as large parks throughout neighborhoods connected by grassy and tree-lined avenues. Not quite Central Park but a lot of great park space throughout for residents.

xX_fnord_Xx,

Came here to say this. The large parks connected by tree lined boulevards is called the Emerald Necklace.

KinNectar,
@KinNectar@kbin.run avatar

@someguy3 Portland, Oregon has the largest urban park in the country, Forest Park, but it is forested an not a garden park. Also it is on the edge of the city instead of Central.

KinNectar,
@KinNectar@kbin.run avatar

@someguy3 Portland, Oregon has the largest urban park in the country, Forest Park, but it is forested an not a garden park. Also it is on the edge of the city instead of Central.

Blamemeta,

They do, they’re just not as large as central park, not as iconic, and they’re more misshapen.

someguy3,

Obviously I’m talking about large parks on the scale of central park.

Salad_Fries,

Well, youre not going to find something “on the scale” of central park in other cities because no us city is “on the scale” of nyc…

-Size wise, nyc’s population is nearly double the next largest city… -Density wise, nyc’s population density is nearly double that of the next densest city -skyscraper wise, nyc has nearly double the quantity of skyscrapers as the next most skyscraper heavy city…

See the trend??

If you look at it proportionally though, many US cities have something similar, many of them have been brought up itt…

Personally, id say pittsburgh and chicago have roughly what youre looking for…

-chicago has a few large urban parks that are surrounded by skyscrapers… the only difference is that they are next to the lake… pretty much all the amenities in nyc’s central park can be found in lincoln & grant parks…

-pittsburgh also has a large urban park in the heart of downtown (hell, they bulldozed 1/3 of downtown to build it)… while it only has skyscrapers on one side, it is literally 1/10th the size of nyc, so give it some slack lol.

someguy3, (edited )

Central Park was established in 1860 when NYC was 1 million people. Other cities could have seen this good idea and set aside land when they were even smaller.

Salad_Fries, (edited )

And the same still applied in 1860… nyc was double the size of the next largest city back then.

And to answer your question, they did do the same… chicago for example also built lincoln park in 1860 even though they were 1/10th the population at the time. The only difference between central & lincoln park is that lincoln park is larger than central park & not as square… its entirety (that isnt water) is surrounded by skyscrapers & is very much central to the city…

To add more, central park is 4 miles away from the citys financial district… lincoln park is 2 miles away… it is MORE “central” than central park lol

bangupjobasusual,

There are central parks in Boston and San Francisco…

Nemo,

Chicago, too, plus the Emerald Necklace of parks and greenways ringing the city.

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