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Where the Sidewalk Ends – Visitor Use of Natural and Landscaped Areas in Urban Parks

  • Article
  • Middle School
  • 1 Classroom Period
  • Recreation
  • Social Science
  • Wilderness
  • Human Uses
  • Inclusion
  • Interview
  • Nature health benefits
  • Random Sample
  • Safety
  • Survey
  • Urban parks
Cover for the 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' article. The main image is a photo of a dirt road flanked by yellow leafed trees.
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The scientists in this study wanted to know three things:

(1) Do visitors’ activities and reasons for using urban parks vary between landscaped and natural areas of New York City parks?

(2) Why do park visitors choose to visit to not visit urban natural areas?

(3) Are there differences between men and women in how they used landscaped and natural areas in parks and in their reasons for visiting these places?

 

Where the Sidewalk Ends – Visitor Use of Natural and Landscaped Areas in Urban Parks

Jump To

  • Meet the Scientists
  • Thinking About Science
  • Thinking About the Environment
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • What Are Desire Lines?
  • Findings
  • Discussion

Meet the Scientists

Nancy Falxa Sonti

Ecologist

My favorite science experience was learning about the history of urban forests and the growth of urban trees through tree rings and then getting to share that information with community... Read Full Bio

Lindsay Campbell

Social Scientist

“My favorite science experience is any time I get to conduct semi-structured interviews. I enjoy having in-depth conversations with individuals about their involvement with the urban environment. I’ve interviewed public... Read Full Bio

Novem Auyeung

Ecologist

My favorite science experience is working with natural resources managers, community members, and other researchers to use our combined knowledge to protect, manage, and restore natural areas in New York... Read Full Bio

Michelle Johnson

Ecologist

My favorite science experience is sitting down with data in hand to explore what you have found. Does your data support your hypothesis, or is something else going on you... Read Full Bio

What Kind of Scientist Did This Research?

Ecologist: This scientist studies the relationship of living things with their living and nonliving environment .

Social Scientist: This scientist studies the values, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, and actions of individuals and groups of people .

Thinking About Science

The scientists in this study wanted to interview visitors to urban parks in New York City. They wanted to get a clear picture of all the park visitors and their different reasons for using or not using areas of the park. This desire meant that the scientists had to interview visitors in-person about visiting the park (figure 1). Walking up to strangers and asking them questions can be hard to do.

 

An interviewer in a plaid shirt and brown shorts interviews a fisherman in a red shirt and khaki pants. They stand at the oceanside in Queens; across the water you can see many buildings in the city.
Figure 1. A researcher interviews a fisherman at Broad Channel American Park, in Queens, New York City . Researchers in this study had to interview many different kinds of visitors to urban parks. USDA Forest Service and New York City Parks photo by the research team.

 

What if a nervous interviewer only felt comfortable talking to parents with children or only to people carrying a basketball and heading for the basketball courts? Would their interviews let the scientists know what all park visitors thought? No, the scientists would only know what people with children or people who play basketball thought. This situation is called selection bias.

 

To find out what all visitors to a park thought about the park areas, scientists needed to randomize their interviews. In other words, every adult visitor to the park had to have an equal chance of being selected for an interview. To ensure this, scientists who conducted the interviews stopped every third adult park visitor they saw. Some of those visitors did not want to be interviewed, so the scientists recorded that information as well. Other visitors did answer the questions, and the scientists were able to interview all kinds of different visitors to the park.

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Thinking About the Environment

When you think of wilderness, what do you picture? You might picture a famous American park like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon (figure 2), or you might see a forest with no roads, cars, or houses. Wilderness areas are areas designated to minimize human impacts. Some natural areas within urban parks—such as forests, wetlands, and meadows—remind people of wilderness areas. These areas, when compared with landscaped areas in urban parks—such as lawns and planted gardens— feel more wild than landscaped areas of a park, but they are also less remote than rural wilderness areas.

 

A photo taken from a cliffside blocked by downed tree trunks in Yellowstone National Park. The river winds away below, and there are mountains in the distance.

Figure 2. (A) Yellowstone National Park covers 2 .2 million acres across Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Figure 2A is a courtesy photo by Nissa McKinney.

A landscape from Grand Canyon National Park; the color striations are visible in the sides of the canyon.

Figure 2. (B) Grand Canyon National Park is in Arizona and centers around the Grand Canyon, a huge canyon that is a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide. Figure 2B is a National Park Service photo by W. Tyson Joye.

The scientists in this study were specifically interested in urban parks.
The area in these parks was divided into two separate categories: natural areas and landscaped areas. The natural areas are the forests, wetlands, and grasslands in the parks (figure 3). These areas may have trails, but they are left mostly wild without buildings or planned landscaping. Landscaped areas are the areas of a park that have a lot of human interventions, like athletic fields, playgrounds, amphitheaters, or lawns (figure 4). These areas have buildings and other structures, like bathrooms or concession stands, and may have flower beds or planted shrubs or a neatly mown lawn.

 

Natural Areas

A nature trail winds through green grass and young trees.

Figure 3. (A) A nature trail winds through a forest
in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Figure 3A is a USDA Forest Service and New York City Parks photo.

Water winds through tall marsh grasses. Trees and a few buildings are visible in the background.

Figure 3. (B) A tidal marsh is located at Pugsley Creek in the Bronx.

Figures 3B is a New York City Parks photos.

Brown grasses grow in the foreground and a creek runs through the middle ground of the photo.

Figure 3. (C) These grasslands are at Freshkills Park in Staten Island. The park is being built in phases on one of the largest landfills in the world.

Figures 3C is a New York City Parks photos.

Landscaped Areas

The foreground is a basketball goal and a portion of the court; some trees that have lost most of their leaves grown in between the court and a baseball field in the background. Fences separate the fields.

Figure 4. (A) A small city park contains both basketball courts (front) and a baseball field (back). Figure 4A is a FIND Outdoors photo by Nissa McKinney.

A ring of park benches surrounds a playground in a Manhattan park.

Figure 4. (B) Benches surround a playground in Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan. Figure 4B is a USDA Forest Service and New York City Parks photo by the research team.

A green lawn dominates most of the photo; trees, a trail, and a park bench are visible in the distance.

Figure 4. (C) Some parks have carefully tended lawns, like this one in Canarsie Park, Brooklyn. Figure 4C is a USDA Forest Service and New York City Parks photo by the research team.

Introduction

Most Americans now live in urban areas and may not have easy access to rural wilderness areas. Instead, many people in cities experience nature by visiting local parks. These parks can be large, with many landscaped spaces like athletic fields and playgrounds as well as more natural areas like forested nature trails. These parks can also be small spaces, like an area of trees with benches and a trail or maybe just a playground (figure 5).

 

A path runs through a small park that is bordered by streets on which a few cars drive. A mosaic tiled low wall runs on the right side of the photo; a blue bench and a red newspaper dispense sit on the left. Square stone blocks make stools that surround chessboards made of the same stone block material. The decorative gates for the pocket park are visible in the background as are a bike rack and a neighboring house.
Figure 5. This small park is known as a “pocket park.” City residents turned an unused island of land between roads into a park by planting shrubs and flowers, installing seating and bike racks, and providing recreation opportunities like the chess boards. FIND Outdoors photos by Nissa McKinney.

 

Any kind of park can provide a connection to nature that has been shown to be beneficial to people. Experiencing nature can help people feel less stressed and more peaceful. Nature can provide inspiration or spark the imagination. Nature can also help people feel more connected to their environment and their community. For these reasons, many communities want to make their parklands more welcoming and inclusive for everyone in their community.

 

New York City is one of these communities. They set a goal of helping people feel more comfortable and safer in their parks. To meet their goal, park managers in New York City needed to learn more about their park visitors. Scientists and staff from the USDA Forest Service, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Natural Areas Conservancy worked together to find out more about park visitors in their city.

The scientists in this study wanted to know three things:

 

(1) Do visitors’ activities and reasons for using the park vary between landscaped and natural areas of New York City parks?

(2) Why do park visitors choose to visit or not visit urban natural areas?

(3) Are there differences between men and women in how they use landscaped and natural areas in parks and in their reasons for visiting these places?

 

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Methods

Scientists chose 21 parks in all 5 boroughs of New York City that had both landscaped and natural areas for visitors to use (figure 6). They trained groups of researchers to interview park visitors with open-ended questions, including:

 

  • Why were they visiting the park?
  • What do they like to do at the park?
  • Do they visit natural areas?
  • Why they do or do not visit natural areas?
  • Are they involved in any environmental stewardship groups?

 

A map of the five boroughs of New York City. Staten Island is blue, Brooklyn is red, Queens is purple, the Bronx is yellow, and Manhattan is green.
Figure 6. New York City (NYC) is divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Map by Dr. Michelle Johnson.

 

Open-ended questions require people to answer with more than a simple yes or no. These researchers walked around all areas of the parks, both landscaped and natural, on trails and desire lines (see sidebar on natural and landscaped areas above). They interviewed every third visitor they met to randomize the selection of participants and reduce selection bias (see “Thinking About Science”).

 

Researchers interviewed 955 visitors from June to August 2014 during the weekday, weekday evening, and weekend. Then two researchers read each interview response and worked together to categorize the answers. The researchers were then able to create tables of the responses to each of their questions.

 

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What Are Desire Lines?

Desire lines, or desire paths, are routes that pedestrians use that have not been planned by landscape architects or developers. Instead, they are paths that have been made from the erosion caused by frequent foot traffic from pedestrians. These routes are usually the shortest or easiest way to reach one point from another.

A concrete sidewalk ends in green brush and a gray light pole. A dirt trail veers off to the left from the sidewalk through the woods

USDA Forest Service and New York City Parks photo by the research team.

A green lawn with mature trees grows next to a wide road. A dirt trail cuts through the lawn to the existing concrete sidewalk.

photo by the research team.

Land managers, landscape architects, and other designers may study desire lines to understand how people are using a space. The width of the desire line and how worn down it is can give managers and designers clues about how many people use the space and where they might be going. Sometimes designers will even leave a space with no paths so they can see where pedestrians will make desire lines. They can then pave the paths that receive the most traffic.

 

Desire lines can also have a negative effect on the landscape. Sometimes desire lines will cross into sensitive habitats or places that land managers don’t want pedestrians to walk. These paths can trample vegetation, increase erosion, or threaten the habitats of plants and animals. Land managers must then find ways to block these desire lines from pedestrians. This need to protect the environment is one reason you should always stay on the marked trail when hiking, even if the trail is muddy, steep, or otherwise difficult.

A close up of a sign reading “Natural Revegetation Project; Please Stay on Trail.”
Adobe Stock photo.

Findings

Visitors in landscaped areas reported using the park for different reasons than the visitors in natural areas. In general, landscaped areas were used more for activities with children, sports, and socializing. Natural areas were used more for walking and nature recreation.

 

Most people said that they visited the park because it was close and convenient to where they lived or worked. The next most important reason for visiting the park was to be close to nature and to enjoy the outdoors. This response was twice as likely to be mentioned by visitors to natural areas than by visitors to the landscaped areas of the park. People visiting natural areas were more likely to talk about finding refuge in nature, and they were also more likely to talk about how attached they were to the park. Often the park reminded them of home or they had visited the park often as children (table 1).

 

Table 1. This table shows the reasons visitors gave for visiting the park, separated by visitors to natural areas and visitors to landscaped areas.

Forty-one percent of visitors said they do not visit the natural areas of the park (table 2). Some people said they prefer landscaped areas of the park because those areas have the amenities they use, like playgrounds, bathrooms, or ball fields. Some reported avoiding natural areas because they didn’t feel safe (table 3). They worried about being hurt by people, animals, or insects in natural areas. Others worried about getting lost on trails.

 

Table 2. This table shows the reasons people gave for not visiting natural areas of urban parks . The results are divided by gender, and visitors could give more than one reason for not visiting natural areas.

Table 3. Scientists broke down the responses of the people who did not visit natural areas because of a specific barrier into each specific barrier mentioned: fear, access, or kids. The results are divided by gender, and visitors could give more than one reason for not visiting natural areas . The percentages are based on the number of visitors who do not visit natural areas .

More women than men reported visiting the park with children. Because women are often at the park with children, scientists found that women preferred places with amenities like playgrounds. Women were less likely to visit natural areas than men, and 30 percent of women said they were afraid of going into natural areas. Because of this, children are more likely to be in landscaped areas rather than natural areas.

 

Finally, a roughly equal number of men and women who were interviewed said that they participated in environmental stewardship groups. These groups may do things like organize clean-up activities in parks or along waterways, teach people how to compost or conserve water, or work with community leaders to pass laws protecting the environment (figure 7). Visitors who were members of these kinds of groups were more likely to visit natural areas than people who were not part of environmental stewardship groups.

A student holds a reader up to a tree trunk, and a Forest Service worker records the measurement on a clipboard. Woodsy stands to the right with his right hand on the student’s left shoulder.

Figure 7 (A). Woodsy Owl participates in a variety of environmental stewardship activities like collecting tree data for scientists.

Woodsy Owl wears a white shirt, green pants, and a green hat with a red feather. He kneels beside a raised bed helping children wearing safety vests tend their community garden.

Figure 7 (B). Woodsy Owl participates in a variety of environmental stewardship activities like growing a community garden.

Woodsy Owl stands with four other people at a shoreline collecting garbage.

Figure 7 (C). Woodsy Owl participates in a variety of environmental stewardship activities like cleaning up trash at a local waterway . Photos by Cecilio Ricardo .

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Discussion

According to the park visitors who were interviewed, both landscaped and natural areas of these parks provided a sense of refuge from the city, enjoyment, and a connection to a familiar place. Both kinds of areas were also most frequently visited because of how close they were to where visitors lived or worked. The landscaped areas provided more social activities, but the natural areas attracted more people who enjoyed the seclusion, peacefulness, and opportunities to view wildlife.

 

Park visitors who were reluctant to visit natural areas had some specific concerns. Some worried about access to natural areas because these places were sometimes hard to reach, like up steep hills
or across busy roads. Some visitors worried about safety, both from other people and wildlife. Others felt that natural areas were not good places to bring children because of safety concerns or because children would be harder to watch in natural areas than on a playground. Finally, some park visitor who had always lived in cities and hadn’t visited the park much as children preferred the more landscaped areas and avoided natural spaces.

 

People who were members of environmental stewardship groups were more likely to visit the natural areas of the park and feel comfortable there. Encouraging visitors to become involved
in stewardship activities that help protect and conserve natural areas at urban parks may encourage more people to use these areas and feel comfortable in them.

 

Urban park managers want more visitors, including children, to feel safe and welcome in their parks in both the landscaped and natural areas. This desire is because most urban parks are public lands. Public lands are paid for by taxes and are operated on behalf of all residents. Therefore, urban park managers want to provide the kind of recreational opportunities residents want to have.

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What's in a Name?

The title of this article, “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” is taken from a book of collected poems by Shel Silverstein. In the book, a poem also called “Where the Sidewalk Ends” talks of a place “where the sidewalk ends / And before the street begins.” This place is a place of imagination, creativity, and wonder, much like the natural areas of city parks. Places beyond the sidewalk can be places of discovery and wonder.

Adapted from Sonti, N.F.; Campbell, L.K.; Svendsen, E.S.; Johnson, M.L.; Auyeung, D.S.N. 2020. Fear and fascination: Use and perceptions of New York City’s forests, wetlands, and landscaped park areas. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 49: 126601. 10 p.

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  • The questions you will answer in this FACTivity are: How does a park in your area offer visitors (1) refuge or stress relief, (2) inspiration or a spark to the...

    FACTivity – Where the Sidewalk Ends

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • 1 Classroom Period
    • Recreation
    • Accessibility
    • Inclusion
    • Nature health benefits
    • Outdoor Activity
    • Park Design
    • Recreation
    The questions you will answer in this FACTivity are: How does a park in your area offer visitors (1) refuge or stress relief, (2) inspiration or a spark to the...
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    Where the Sidewalk Ends - Visitor Use of Natural and Landscaped Areas in Urban Parks
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Glossary

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  • amenity

    (ǝ me nǝ tē): Something that helps to provide comfort, convenience, or enjoyment.

  • bias

    (bī ǝs): A systematic error introduced into sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others.

  • borough

    (bǝr ō): In this case, one of the five main sections of New York City; the boroughs are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.

  • hypothesis

    (hī pä thǝ sǝs): An assumption or idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true.

  • landscape

    (lan(d) skāp)
    verb: To make changes to improve the appearance of an area of land.
    noun: The visual land, such as trees, water, and sky

  • randomize

    (ran dǝ mīz): To arrange or choose something in a random way or order.

  • refuge

    (re fyüj): A place that provides shelter or protection.

  • seclusion

    (si klü zhǝn): The state of being away from other people.

  • stewardship

    (stü ǝrd ship): The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.

  • urban

    (ǝr bǝn): Of, relating to, typical of, or being a city.

  • wetlands

    (wet landz): Land or areas (such as marshes or swamps) that are covered, often intermittently, with shallow water or have soil saturated with moisture.

  • Dr. Sonti is using an increment borer on an urban street tree.

    Nancy Falxa Sonti

    Ecologist

    My favorite science experience was learning about the history of urban forests and the growth of urban trees through tree rings and then getting to share that information with community...
    View Profile
  • Dr. Lindsay Campbell delivering a lecture in front of a colorful splatter backdrop

    Lindsay Campbell

    Social Scientist

    “My favorite science experience is any time I get to conduct semi-structured interviews. I enjoy having in-depth conversations with individuals about their involvement with the urban environment. I’ve interviewed public...
    View Profile
  • Michelle Johnson stands outside in a park.

    Michelle Johnson

    Ecologist

    My favorite science experience is sitting down with data in hand to explore what you have found. Does your data support your hypothesis, or is something else going on you...
    View Profile
  • Novem Auyeung wears waders and holds up a turtle as she stands in a wetlands.

    Novem Auyeung

    Ecologist

    My favorite science experience is working with natural resources managers, community members, and other researchers to use our combined knowledge to protect, manage, and restore natural areas in New York...
    View Profile

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Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
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    Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.

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    Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.

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    Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.

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If you are a trained Project Learning Tree educator, you may use “I’d Like to Visit a Place Where . . .” as an additional resource.

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    • Habitat Protection
    • Model
    • Organic Act
    Denali National Park in Alaska has one of the largest reported golden eagle nesting populations. Golden eagles are legally protected to help the population survive. Park managers were not sure...
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    Explore Article Download Article (PDF)

    Part Of

    Scientific Models in Adaptive Management - Vol. 17 No. 1
  • This monograph looks at how much time kids spend outdoors based on data from the National Kids Survey. The monograph also examines the outdoor activities kids participate in.

    Time Out – Vol. 1 No. 5

    • Monograph
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Wilderness
    • Baseline
    • Bias
    • Conservation
    • Demographics
    • Hiking
    • Physical Health
    • Random Sample Sizing
    This monograph looks at how much time kids spend outdoors based on data from the National Kids Survey. The monograph also examines the outdoor activities kids participate in.
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)
  • This monograph is one of two Wilderness 50 monographs. These two monographs were created to honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. This act established the U.S....

    Pack to Back (Wilderness 50 Monograph Series) – Vol. 1 No. 9

    • Monograph
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Wilderness
    • Backcountry
    • Backpacking
    • Camping
    • Hiking
    • National Wilderness Preservation System
    • Recreation
    • Survey
    • Wilderness
    • Wilderness Benefits
    This monograph is one of two Wilderness 50 monographs. These two monographs were created to honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. This act established the U.S....
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)
  • This monograph is one of two Wilderness 50 monographs. These two monographs were created to honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. This act established the U.S....

    Wilderness 2.0 (Wilderness 50 Monograph Series) – Vol. 1 No. 10

    • Monograph
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Wilderness
    • Case Study
    • Ecosystem Services
    • Social Science
    • U.S. National Preservation System
    • Wilderness Act
    • Wilderness Benefits
    • Wilderness Experiences
    This monograph is one of two Wilderness 50 monographs. These two monographs were created to honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964. This act established the U.S....
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)
    Explore Monograph Download Monograph (PDF)

Additional Resources

  • USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station: New York City Urban Field Station

    The New York City Urban Field Station’s mission is to improve quality of life in urban areas by conducting and supporting research about social-ecological systems and natural resource management.

    Visit Website

  • New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

    Browse the NYC Parks Department website to learn more about their parks (including the ones in the article), learning opportunities, and more.

    Visit Website

  • Natural Areas Conservancy

    The Natural Areas Conservancy strives to deepen the connection between people and nature in NYC by increasing access, providing education, and building the environmental workforce. Through research, partnerships, and advocacy, we ensure that urban natural areas are healthy and thriving and that their benefits reach all New Yorkers.

    Visit Website

  • Discover the Forest

    Discover the Forest began as a public service campaign created by the Ad Council in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, encouraging parents of tweens to experience the outdoors with their family to strengthen their connection with nature and each other. The North American Association for Environmental Education is now partnering with the Forest Service to build an education-focused program aimed at providing more robust, inclusive, and culturally relevant educational materials and resources to involve diverse audiences to support the conservation mission of the agency.

    Visit Website

  • USDA Forest Service: Visitor Map

    Explore this interactive visitor map for national forests and grasslands.

    Visit Website

  • USDA Forest Service: Urban Forests

    Learn more about urban forests, why they’re important, and the Forest Service’s work in urban areas.

    Visit Website

  • USDA Forest Service: Urban and Community Forestry Program

    By working with state partners and community tree groups, the Urban and Community Forestry Program invests from the ground up in communities, improving more than 140 million acres of urban and community forest across the United States.

    Visit Website
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  • Natural Inquirer - Homepage
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The Natural Inquirer program produces a variety of science education materials for PreK through grade 12. Natural Inquirer products are produced by the USDA Forest Service, FIND Outdoors, and other cooperators and partners.

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