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Post by nycgirl on Apr 4, 2012 16:08:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2012 17:01:30 GMT
Well, from looking at the French places on the list, I can figure out the mindset of these people. They are going after "beautiful" parks without any regard for whether they are people-friendly and are actually meant to be used.
The Parc de la Villette and the Parc André Citroën are among the most popular parks in Paris because they have huge areas for people to play, children to run and families to have picnics. They do not have beautiful flowerbeds like the Luxembourg or the Tuileries.
Kind of sad for people to think that parks should be looked at more than used for recreation.
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Post by bjd on Apr 4, 2012 17:10:20 GMT
Yeah -- I was struck by that too. The newer parks in Paris: Bercy, Citroen, etc are much more pleasant that the Tuileries and Luxembourg.
I also noticed that they didn't mention any of London's great parks.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 4, 2012 18:24:51 GMT
My favorites are probably Golden Gate and Central parks. Both are huge and have almost everything a city park should from formal plantings to open lawns and recreational facilities. Luxembourg is eye candy but it isn't to me in the same class as the two above, Tuileries is just too formal and stiff, Vosges is to me an unremarkable park in a remarkable setting.
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 11, 2012 14:13:45 GMT
I definitely disagree with Parc de la Villete's inclusion on the worst list. It has a great look and it is very visitor friendly. When I saw it, tons of kids were having a ball. I'm also curious why no parks in London got a mention.
Glad to see Prospect Park in Brooklyn made an appearance. I think it's pretty underrated.
Central Park has got to be the best I've ever seen. In addition to elegant fountains, statuary and a castle, it's got activity-friendly stuff like playgrounds, baseball diamonds, an ice skating rink in the winter and a swimming pool in the summer. Plus, it's got a huge theatre that mounts lavish (and free!) Shakespeare productions.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2012 15:05:56 GMT
Of the ones listed in the U.S. I would agree with Central Park and Golden Gate. How they came up with Jackson Square NOLA listed as a park totally escapes me. It is just that, a square.
City Park and Audubon Parks here are much more special in that they are true parks although both uniquely different.
I was disappointed to not see Forest Park,St. Louis not on the list.
Of the foreign ones listed I was only familiar with Oaxaca's main Zoccolo which I loved but would hardly frequent if I lived there,too many tourists and hustlers and that was in 1995 or so. I don't know how it is nowadays.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2012 16:39:39 GMT
These lists are always so silly and yet people love to look at them and comment on them. I bet there are some absolutely magnificent parks in obscure cities in countries that we have never visited. As for bad parks, they are of course everywhere.
I'm in favour of voting a law to force publications and websites to title such subjects things like "Best and Worst in the opinion of 3 people" or "Best and Worst that I have personally visited."
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Post by lola on Apr 11, 2012 17:31:37 GMT
Har.
I love Paley Park, for instance, in Midtown NYC. The big advantage, though, is that when you step out of it you are in Midtown NYC. Forest Park in St. Louis could skate rings around it, parkwise. (PS Casimira. Come check it out. They've done wonders with it. The rest of yall, too.)
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 12, 2012 12:24:23 GMT
You are all going to hate me but when I went to Central Park 4 years ago I wasn't particularly impressed. However, it was February which is about the worst time of the year when everything is at it's lowest ebb.
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Post by lola on Apr 12, 2012 15:34:31 GMT
Nope. Sorry, Mick. Central Park would have to stay on the list. You might as well say "I saw the Queen Mary Rose Garden at Regent's Park in London last January 16, and it's really not all it's cracked up to be."
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 13, 2012 12:37:20 GMT
I shall retire gracefully.........
When I'm back in NYC at a better time of the year I shall make a re-evaluation...
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Post by lola on Apr 13, 2012 20:35:52 GMT
Awww. No, you can still strike it from your list. You'd just have to provide a better argument before you could convince some of us.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2012 20:36:09 GMT
Actually, I have always wanted to love Central Park as well, but have not yet succeeded. The location is of course perfect and it has a huge variety of different things. However, the southern end seems as stilted to me as the central Parisian parks like the Luxembourg or the Tuileries: "look at it and walk through, but don't really 'use' it." I also saw some of the central areas near the museum, which actually sort of seemed seedy, especially the cruising guys lurking in the bushes, and also the reservoir seems absolutely fine as a jogging track, but it is of no visual or aesthetic interest. That leaves the southern edge bordering on Harlem. Is that any good, or more of the same?
"Strawberry fields" was kind of nice -- it seemed more like a normal park for people to relax.
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Post by nycgirl on Apr 16, 2012 1:37:43 GMT
I haven't been here long enough (10 years) to see the seedy side of Central Park. Not sure it exists anymore.
Central Park has its formal side, in imitation of European parks, but it's mostly user-friendly. The Harlem Meer (a man-made lake) is nice. The Great Lawn is good for throwing around a ball or lounging in the sun. Row boating is lots of fun. So is a walk in the woodland Ramble, which is a popular place for bird watching. And like I said before, it's peppered with playgrounds, some of them quite creative, so little kids love it.
I need to go over there and take some more photos.
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Post by cristina on Apr 24, 2012 3:14:38 GMT
I wish I had the patience to figure out the criteria used for best vs. worst. Like Fumobici, I definitely give a multitude of thumbs up for SF's Golden Gate Park. Hands down my favorite. Followed closely by Balboa Park which is also awesome. Both parks have something for everyone. OTH, I really enjoyed the Tuilleries when I was in Paris a few years ago. I was there without young children and I found it a pleasant alternative walking route to the street. On that trip, I happened on the installation of temporary art pieces so I was pretty happy. If I'd had young children with me, my opinion would be way different. I did have young children and teens with me when we visited Parc Guell in Barcelona and it was an overwhelming hit. No toddlers at the time so needs were different. But my youngest, 10 at the time, loved it. So did my oldest at 20. And the middle one one has been back twice since then.  A variety of spaces are good. I just wish the website had defined what they were rating from the outset. |
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Post by rikita on May 8, 2012 17:36:43 GMT
no berlin parks on any of the lists... shouldn't hasenheide and görlitzer park be among the best?
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Post by rikita on May 8, 2012 17:37:11 GMT
(by the way for some reason i first misread "parks" as "pranks" and was wondering what they were on about...)
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Post by ninchursanga on May 23, 2012 3:15:38 GMT
That's a very Western-Industrialized-Nation oriented list...I may assume that the other >170 countries not mentioned have neither parks nor squares?
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2012 14:11:08 GMT
I think all best and worst lists are doomed from the start, as soon as the radius of judgment exceeds about 10 kilometers.
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LouisXIV
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L'estat c'est moi.
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Post by LouisXIV on Jun 10, 2012 15:14:20 GMT
I think it is really hard to say which are the best or worst. There are many beautiful places all over the world. I really enjoyed the two mentioned in Paris, but there is one that was not mentioned and it is in Angers, France. There is a beautiful 30 or 40 acre garden there that is beautiful and very peaceful. Here are a few pictures I took while there. The pictures of the garden are near the end. travel.webshots.com/album/97574274rPCmjg?start=12 |
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