July 2025
Bushrod Park is a Gem!
For whatever reason, I’ve only recently started to come to Bushrod Park regularly... and I am all the better for it.
I think my relationship to the park started to change because of pickleball (ironically). I’d always been a bit pickle-skeptic, but after watching these folks on a random Tuesday night I couldn’t help but feel a bit of awe – not just because of their athleticism, but because it really seemed to bring people of all backgrounds together in a way that made me smile. Before I knew it, someone saw me from the corner of their eye and invited me in, and I joined them for more than a couple games.
I truly believe this park has just about everything you could want — dogs racing down the fields, throngs of families cheering on their eight-year olds as they sprint around the softball bases, dudes out ballin’ on the basketball courts, enormous fields to appreciate the big blue sky. I’ve personally taken a liking to the magnificent sycamore trees that greet you on your way in; the circle of colored bricks at the base has lost a lot of its luster, but it’s enough just to lounge underneath those wide branches.
The more time I spend there, the more I feel a need to just fix all the little things I see that are a bit off. Don’t get me wrong, this park is still an absolute gem. But things like the lack of benches under the tree or the patchy grass on the soccer field get to me sometimes. I wish I could just take a bucket of paint and put some color back on those rocks, or at least touch up the sign on 59th St. Maybe it could be something as simple as a “Friends of Bushrod Park” group that could coordinate community projects (and negotiate with the city government or our councilperson, Zac Unger) where needed.
Anyway, just dreaming out loud. Point is, our park is maybe one of the best in the city.
A New Pollinator Garden
A bunch of neighbors are trying to transform the empty lot at 54th and Shattuck into a community garden! The site is owned by Caltrans (the government agency that operates the highways), but they’ve permitted folks to ~beautify~ the site into a new public space. Reminds me of the Temescal Greenbelt project, which I love (or Mission Greenway in the city, now defunct).
They’re looking for volunteers to help out: email 54thandshattuckgarden@gmail.com with what you’d like to contribute (time, skills, resources, etc).