When Beauty Ruled Allentown Parks

When I grew up, beauty was the hallmark of the Allentown Park System. The parks were featured by picture postcard makers, and were sent out across the country by visitors who came to marvel at our unique park system. This is not to say that they weren't played in and enjoyed by the residents. Kids passed footballs while their fathers fished along the willow lined creek edges. As I grew up living above Lehigh Parkway in Little Lehigh Manor, I can testify that hundreds of kids played in the parks all day. The parks were designed for both beauty and enjoyment.

Last weekend hundreds of tree saplings were densely planned along the creek at the rose garden. This was done to permanentize the Phony Riparian Buffer. I call it phony because in Allentown the storm water is piped directly into the streams, bypassing the buffers anyway. All that the buffers do is deny both access and visual beauty of the creeks to the public. This access and beauty was the main design feature of the Allentown Park System, and it is why the parks were placed along the streams.

The buffers are promoted by the Wildland Conservancy,  a local sacred cow which I stand alone against when defending our traditional park system.  On Friday I had my first talk with the park director since the man who hired her got convicted.  I realize that I will never succeed in having the stream banks fully restored as they were designed to be.  It is my revised mission to get sections of the banks kept mowed,  where a father might show his daughter the beauty of the creek on a spring day.