City planning for Lincoln Park at Argenziano school - to turf or not to turf?

[andy wolf]

For the past 2 years or more there has been an ongoing planning process about how to renovate Lincoln Park. This mixed-use area will have school playground space, green space, a softball field and an athletic field sized for U12 soccer. The controversy centers on the athletic field - turf or natural grass?

Recently the city announced that they would go with natural grass. This is a reversal of course for the city, and seems primarily based on neighborhood opposition to turf and desire for natural grass green space (the latest turf plan would be synthetic turf using organic in-fill, not the used tire turf that some folks have health concerns about).

My view is that the park has a lot of greenspace already, but Somerville lacks sufficient recreation space. This would be a lit field in a heavily populated area that could get tons of use and even provide some permitting income back to the city. Instead, only youth soccer will be allowed to use it, and then only sparingly, to protect the grass. Somerville does not have a good track record protecting natural grass fields (anyone check out Conway or even Hodgkins lately?), and I fear before long Lincoln park will be back to its current dustbowl status.

My kids will be too old to take advantage of the U12 fields either way, but I hate to see the city making this kind of mistake. Recreational space is at a premium and should be open to all in the city. If you agree, you can help by signing this online petition or reaching out to your alderman or the mayor's office. Thanks!

Comments

[ron_newman]

Two questions:

- what is U12?

- in the map shown on the petition page, which field do you want changed from grass to turf? The left one ("Community Green / Softball Field") or the right ("Multi-Use Field")?

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

U12 would be "under 12" - youth soccer leagues, presumably?

[andy wolf (from livejournal.com)]

@ron_newman, the turf would be the multi-use field, and yes, U12 is under 12 soccer. They usually play 8v8, so it is quite a bit smaller than a full-size soccer field would be.

[mdisles.livejournal.com]

Artificial turf is gross

[andy wolf (from livejournal.com)]

Somerville's grass athletic fields include Conway Park, Lincoln Park, Dilboy Auxillary, Nunziato Field, Draw 7 Park and Foss Park. You won't see anyone lounging in the grass at any of these places, because due to overuse, they are all "gross."

[veek.livejournal.com]

The notion that recreational space equates to astroturf doesn't fit in my worldview. I'll be calling City Hall, commending them on this decision (among other things, environmentally net positive), and encouraging them to make a real plan for opening up the field for public use AND maintaining the grass. Like, you know, a park.

[andy wolf (from livejournal.com)]

I'm not sure that I can match your valley girl sarcasm level, but I can say that no one has equated recreational space with turf. In my view, some portion of recreational space should be reserved for team sports (both organized and casual). In this park, we are talking about a particular 15% which *will be* used for that purpose. The reason why turf matters to me is that if it is grass, we will either get lots of time when nobody will be allowed on the field OR a field that quickly turns into dust and mud. Or, most likely, a combination of both outcomes. I would much prefer a field that people can play on.

[jim hanley (from livejournal.com)]

It's easy to oppose turf without looking at any of the facts or the actual fields themselves (photo above is from Conway Park halfway through the fall soccer season. Lincoln Park was in worse condition). I don't know of anyone that supports synthetic turf that isn't a committed environmentalist (we too, choose to live in Somerville). The big difference is that we are realists who use the fields and have looked at the data that proves you can't grow grass unless you radically reduce recreation in our urban city.

You can call and encourage the city "to make a real plan AND maintain grass", but you'd have just as much luck demanding the mayor solve world peace. The only way we'll get grass to survive AND keep our fields available for public use, is to augment our limited spaces with synthetic turf which will take the heavy traffic that is a reality in our densely populated city.

We all love and want more grass. This isn't a grass vs turf debate. It's about what sort of compromises we have to make in order for grass to grow. Either we radically restrict play (by 85% per the city's proposal) or we selectively add synthetic turf (13% of Lincoln Park) so that the grass will thrive everywhere else and we can support our growing demand for healthy recreation for ALL citizens.

[veek.livejournal.com]

Maybe we're using the wrong kind of grass (http://www.sportsgrass.com/info/selectspecies.html)? I've lived places (admittedly across an ocean) where grass football fields were a thing, and they didn't look like that.

[jim hanley (from livejournal.com)]

If only it were as easy as purchasing the "right grass seed". City employees actually want to grow grass and know how to do their jobs. Of course grass can be grown on fields in areas that have more fields and fewer people. Like many challenges Somerville faces, it's linked to the incredible population density of our beloved city.

Everyone knowledgeable on the topic (Somerville has hired multiple consultants/experts who all agree) says that to maintain a grass field you need to LIMIT the play to 400-500 hours per year. We had over 1800 hours of play at Lincoln Park last year. That is what you get in an urban city full of healthy, active people. That is why ALL the grass fields in Somerville are dirt patches (except for Trum which is closed to most play). Our city currently "rations" recreation in a failed attempt to maintain grass. I think rationing is deplorable -- we should be enabling MORE healthy recreation for our citizens, not less. It's only getting worse as the city grows and skews to a younger demographic. Putting synthetic turf on less than 15% of Lincoln Field will ensure that the rest of the grass in the park thrives as well as help grass fields elsewhere in the city.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

There are some great organic artificial turf options that would be a good compromise. The artificial field is only 15% of the park space. While I love the idea of having a lush green field, it's not realistic in densely populated area.