Playground

I grew up around neighborhood parks, but I don’t remember them ever feeling quite like Walter Pierce Park. There’s something about this park that genuinely captures the community around it. What I love most is how completely it changes depending on the hour. Early in the morning, there might be a workout group getting started—or, occasionally, someone asleep on a bench who perhaps did not quite make it home the night before. A few hours later, delivery drivers are taking a well-earned break. In the afternoons, there are families and kids, especially after school and throughout the summer. There’s a regular afternoon cigar smoker. I’ve walked through yoga classes, watched pickup basketball games, and seen the big field transformed for Little League, soccer, and football. By evening, people are sometimes sitting outside having what looks like a little dinner party. It just ebbs and flows with the neighborhood. There’s a dog park, although my dog is far more interested in the apparently exceptional sniffing opportunities throughout the rest of the park. And honestly, simply walking through is one of my favorite parts of living nearby because there’s always some tiny slice of neighborhood life happening. Walter Pierce Park isn’t particularly grand or elaborate, and I think that’s exactly why it works so well. It just quietly becomes whatever the neighborhood needs it to be at that particular hour. To me, that’s exactly what a neighborhood park should be.