Park Pride

Cory and I have been writing about a few of our local Brookhaven parks (Briarwood & Lenox) in the past few weeks. I guess Spring is in the air, and with the warm weather we've been getting lately, we've been getting out of the house more with Jasper.

I wanted to share an organization that I've been getting more involved with: Park Pride. A non-profit organization that works with local in-town neighborhoods, communities, and park systems to support efforts to create more parks and greenspace in Atlanta. They can help your community association or neighborhood develop conceptual plans for pocket parks in your area, help with volunteer efforts in clean ups, local park funding, and also advocate for projects like the Beltline. They are a wonderful organization and also involved specifically with parks in the Brookhaven area. Check out their website on how you can get involved, donate, or volunteer.

Park Pride also hosts an annual conference every year- and this years in coming up in a few weeks on Monday, March 28th. I've registered to attend to represent my firm who works with local park systems on the design side. This conference seems like a great way to learn about local parks in the Atlanta area, meet a lot of the folks who are involved, and learn how to promote parks and greenspace in your community. A few of the conference topics/discussions are: A Future City Parks System, Bridging Community through Parks and Greenspaces, Connecting Children to Nature through Parks, and From Friends Raising to Fundraising: How to Build Support for Your Park. You can see the full schedule here.

They will also be having tours of both the Atlanta Botanical Garden and also Piedmont Park! If you cannot attend the conference- they are also having a cleanup day for Lynwood Park in Brookhaven on Saturday March 19th. RSVP to john@parkpride.org if you're interested in volunteering!

Lenox Park

The snowmageddon in Atlanta kept us holed up in our house for almost all of this week. We kept busy most of the time working from home, but after 3 days indoors, we needed to stretch our legs a little. Cory and I walk a lot around our neighborhood and Brookhaven, and a few months ago we "found" a great little pocket park: Lenox Park. Located in between North Druid and Roxboro Road off of Lenox Park Boulevard, its about 1+ mile for us to get there.  So to get some exercise this week, we took an icy hike over there.

Sandwiched between the office buildings, apartment complexes, and residential neighborhoods, Lenox Park boasts over 22 acres of green space including 2 miles of running/walking trails with a creek feeding a decent sized lake (See Park Map). While we didn't see much green this time around, there is plenty of grassy areas for games or picnics and benches to relax on.  

We enjoyed our walk through the park- it's like our own little gem in the middle of the city.  We've always seen people around running, walking, and (now) sledding, but for the most part it's pretty quiet. All the park is really missing is a nice dog park. If you're visiting from further away, I'm not really sure where you would park as we have always just walked there.  The park is owned and maintained privately (not a City or County Park) by the Lenox Park Homeowner's Association. 

Make sure you go check it out!  We will definitely be around here more in the Spring and Summer when it's a little more green out.