Lesser-mores! It’s so great to be with you again. I’m curious what feels like too much in your life right now. What’s below—how we need more nature for all and less green for the elite few—comes from Satya Robyn who asked me to contribute to her Substack Going Gently’s wonderful Kissing the Earth Project.
Excellent and so well researched essay on a topic I care deeply about, and appreciate what you shared about Sarasota's beaches as I live in nearby Venice and see the miles and miles of coastline owned by the rich and the hotels. Thank you for the reminder of the original tribes who actually own the land. The inequality around green spaces concerns me deeply, too. I would love to see our city planners consider how to extend green spaces into those neighborhoods which lack them. When I was young, my mother was part of the Fresh Air Fund, providing "country vacations" to some of New York City's neediest children, although in our case it was a couple of weeks on suburban Long Island. I saw through the eyes of Tommy, who stayed with us a couple of summers when I was eight and nine, that what I took for granted in our grassy lawn and safe playgrounds and neighborhood pool was a wide-eyed wonder for him. I am glad to see the Fresh Air Fund still exists but it would be far preferable that youth in inner cities could have their own versions of fresh air in their own neighborhoods.
I agree with your post as a matter of public policy. At the same time I'm one of those miscreants who enjoy ready access to nature by virtue of where I live. I grew up going to a beach club near Deal, NJ, now use the beach in East Hampton and in Manhattan I live next to Central Park.
Over the longer term, there has been an enormous improvement in US Air Quality thanks to the EPA.
But these are averages and the quality varies according to the socioeconomic character of the neighborhood. As well, you make an excellent point about indoor air quality, which should be a much higher priority on payback alone and of course on moral grounds as well.
Indoor air quality is even worse in the developing world where cooking is often done indoors using wood and other unhealthy energy sources.
One issue to keep in mind: housing is expensive because of zoning. If we build more parks, that will further reduce land that could be used for housing development. And if we increase density in a place like NYC, then the sq. ft. of green space per capita will go down.
Finally, East Hampton parking passes are indeed prized possessions. And if you park on streets close to the beach you'll likely get a ticket. So while the beaches are public, they're really not accessible to everyone.
All such good points. And I know you have much better stats on what qualify someone as being in the one percent or the .1%. Definitely not my area of expertise.
It’s hard for me to see the housing crisis as a reason not to make green spaces more accessible when I see 14,000 square-foot houses being built. I forget which country it is, but one country has a limit on the number of square feet you can make your house.
Zoning and historical discriminatory housing and lending practices are at the root of so many of these issues. Where highways and factories were built, red-lining by lenders, and restrictive racial covenants.
On the 14,000 sq. ft. house, that's always going to be a local issue and it's more a question of the land acquisition and how much land does a municipality say you need to build 14,000 sq. ft.
There's s much wealth held by home owners that it's really hard to introduce high density dwellings in suburbs.
Even in New York, even people on the Upper West side, a bastion of liberal Democrats, complain when migrants are housed in hotels in their neighborhoods.
Yes! This is what I’ve been writing about — nature and how important it is to wellness, most recently: “Nature and Healing: Is There a True Connection to Better Health?” The answer is yes.
The more we write about the importance of nature the more people will realize how critical it is to our survival. In my post I encourage readers to find nature where they live, not realizing some people can’t even find a blade of grass.
Being a coastal resident my entire life, I’ve only visited large cities — never lived in them or had the desire. NJ beach access is a contentious topic every summer because non of the beaches are free. Except for two park preserves which fill up quickly and turn beach goers away once full. It’s a terrible system. Aside from Sarasota, (which I didn’t know was paid) I believe most beaches are free in Florida, at least where I go on the east coast.
Excellent and so well researched essay on a topic I care deeply about, and appreciate what you shared about Sarasota's beaches as I live in nearby Venice and see the miles and miles of coastline owned by the rich and the hotels. Thank you for the reminder of the original tribes who actually own the land. The inequality around green spaces concerns me deeply, too. I would love to see our city planners consider how to extend green spaces into those neighborhoods which lack them. When I was young, my mother was part of the Fresh Air Fund, providing "country vacations" to some of New York City's neediest children, although in our case it was a couple of weeks on suburban Long Island. I saw through the eyes of Tommy, who stayed with us a couple of summers when I was eight and nine, that what I took for granted in our grassy lawn and safe playgrounds and neighborhood pool was a wide-eyed wonder for him. I am glad to see the Fresh Air Fund still exists but it would be far preferable that youth in inner cities could have their own versions of fresh air in their own neighborhoods.
I remember the Fresh Air fund. I feel like it got way more attention than it does today.
Good morning Sarah,
I agree with your post as a matter of public policy. At the same time I'm one of those miscreants who enjoy ready access to nature by virtue of where I live. I grew up going to a beach club near Deal, NJ, now use the beach in East Hampton and in Manhattan I live next to Central Park.
Over the longer term, there has been an enormous improvement in US Air Quality thanks to the EPA.
https://gispub.epa.gov/air/trendsreport/2023/#introduction
But these are averages and the quality varies according to the socioeconomic character of the neighborhood. As well, you make an excellent point about indoor air quality, which should be a much higher priority on payback alone and of course on moral grounds as well.
Indoor air quality is even worse in the developing world where cooking is often done indoors using wood and other unhealthy energy sources.
One issue to keep in mind: housing is expensive because of zoning. If we build more parks, that will further reduce land that could be used for housing development. And if we increase density in a place like NYC, then the sq. ft. of green space per capita will go down.
Finally, East Hampton parking passes are indeed prized possessions. And if you park on streets close to the beach you'll likely get a ticket. So while the beaches are public, they're really not accessible to everyone.
All such good points. And I know you have much better stats on what qualify someone as being in the one percent or the .1%. Definitely not my area of expertise.
It’s hard for me to see the housing crisis as a reason not to make green spaces more accessible when I see 14,000 square-foot houses being built. I forget which country it is, but one country has a limit on the number of square feet you can make your house.
Zoning and historical discriminatory housing and lending practices are at the root of so many of these issues. Where highways and factories were built, red-lining by lenders, and restrictive racial covenants.
On the 14,000 sq. ft. house, that's always going to be a local issue and it's more a question of the land acquisition and how much land does a municipality say you need to build 14,000 sq. ft.
There's s much wealth held by home owners that it's really hard to introduce high density dwellings in suburbs.
Even in New York, even people on the Upper West side, a bastion of liberal Democrats, complain when migrants are housed in hotels in their neighborhoods.
Yes! This is what I’ve been writing about — nature and how important it is to wellness, most recently: “Nature and Healing: Is There a True Connection to Better Health?” The answer is yes.
The more we write about the importance of nature the more people will realize how critical it is to our survival. In my post I encourage readers to find nature where they live, not realizing some people can’t even find a blade of grass.
Being a coastal resident my entire life, I’ve only visited large cities — never lived in them or had the desire. NJ beach access is a contentious topic every summer because non of the beaches are free. Except for two park preserves which fill up quickly and turn beach goers away once full. It’s a terrible system. Aside from Sarasota, (which I didn’t know was paid) I believe most beaches are free in Florida, at least where I go on the east coast.
Thank you for reading and for writing about this too. Will you put the link here in case people want to read your post?
Certainly! Here it is https://maryannrollano.substack.com/p/nature-healing
Also, I discuss the benefits of negative air ions from sea spray for mental wellness here: https://maryannrollano.substack.com/p/theres-something-in-the-air