Shanelle Harris 10/3/13 Comp II/Mrs.

Williams Asset Map Paper

The map that I have chosen for this community project outlines the distance from my home to the nearest community park. The community park as you may or may not know is within 1.6 miles of the subdivision. The reason why I chose to map this particular route is to show and stress the lack of teen friendly parks and recreational facilities within the Otter Creek subdivision itself. I am proposing that there should be more teen friendly parks and areas within the community so as to keep the amount of loitering and aimless wandering within the neighborhood down and increase the amount of juvenile productivity and activeness. Teens that are in a reasonable amount of distance from a park or recreational facility/space are more likely to be physically active than their counterparts (UCLAs Center for Health Policy Research). As of 2011, only 18.5% of females and 38.3% of males are involved in some sort of physical activity according to the CDC. These statistics and results are alarming yet are a reassuring statement about the effect that a lack of productive teen outlets can have on a society. Specifically within the neighborhood that I live in there is only one park that is available that is in close proximity the front entrance of Otter Creek. The other area that is available is more designed for children and family enjoyment. I feel that if the community wants to lower the

amount of loitering and squandering in the community then they should make more outlets available that would attract teens to them and keep them interested and out of harms way. Since 2011, the percentage of drug abuse, specifically marijuana between and high school sophomores and senior students is an alarming 6.5% and 3.5% (Natl Institute on Drug Abuse). I assert that if they had a more productive way to spend their time then they wouldnt have had to find other counterproductive and/or destructive activities to participate in. Looking on the map, at first glance you may have the thought that the actual teen friendly/appropriate park may be a tad too far. Although it is almost a mile and a half away from where I live, walking distance amounts to about 32 minutes whereas driving it would take only 5. The amount of time or gas needed to get to this park is far more than what a teenager is willing to give up, especially if there was a more appropriate park right within their own neighborhood. Why displace a child out of their own community when there could very well be a park much closer to them that is withing the comfort of their own subdivision? What I am proposing does not seem improbable. With the amount of space the community has to offer because of its ever increasing influx of new homeowners, they could very well designate one of the spaces to design a teen-friendly park. The confounds of which it would deem teen friendly would include basketball goals, soccer fields, and a large space equal to that of a high school football field. The areas would be marked with the proper markings and signs and any other decorum that would help represent what each area is for. Also too, maybe one or two areas are to be closed off so that they can possibly be a couple of pools for the summer months. Of course if the park is built it would need to be specifically outlined and highlighted that its primary purpose is for teen adolescent enjoyment and although open for everyone, it serves a function that is for the youth. That along with a pavilion area and water

fountains I believe would be in the communitys best interest and would aid in the decrease of aimless wandering and non-productive adolescent youths.

Appendix/Sources

http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2013/02/adolescent-cigarette-alcoholuse-declines-marijuana-use-rises http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/physicalactivity/facts.htm http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/park-perks-teenagers-who-live-244449.aspx