Parks and environmental justice in Milwaukee

This one's part of a series for students in Geography 564: Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice.

Although the classic environmental justice issue was toxic pollution, access to safe, well-maintained parks has become increasingly salient as an environmental justice issue. Do different groups in the city have better or worse access to parks - and what kinds of parks? What is the status of these parks? We'll consider these issues in readings later in the semester.

Here are some resources to help you get started thinking about this here in Milwaukee:

- A great place to start is a 2002 study by Milwaukee's Public Policy Forum, which will give you a sense of the variations among parks at the turn of the millennium.

- A more recent Public Policy Forum study (2008) also addresses Milwaukee's parks briefly, and it's probably worth a look.

- One possible case study to examine in Milwaukee is Johnsons Park (also here) which has partnered with the Center for Resilient Cities.

- You might also want to look at the Urban Ecology Center, which now operates in Riverside Park and Washington Park.

- A couple of organizations to know about in Milwaukee are Preserve Our Parks and The Park People. And of course, don't forget Milwaukee County Parks itself.