R
ainy days are a drag at William Dick School in North Philadelphia, where
kids take recess on a stark asphalt lot. There’s nowhere for the water to escape. The schoolyard becomes a wet mess—an obstacle to the kids who want to play there and a source of runoff that can pollute the city water supply. “We have puddles that sit in the schoolyard,” says Amy Williams, the principal. “If it rains on a Friday, it will still be there on a Monday. We literally have to squeegee it out for kids to play.” Next year that will change. The
Trust for Public Land—a key player in the City of Philadelphia’s push to create 500 acres of new green space by 2015—selected William Dick as the first of many schools to undergo renovations. When complete, the William
Dick playground will include new play equipment, a basketball court, a kickball area, and an athletic field, bringing much-needed community space to a neighborhood with few outdoor places to relax. Water-smart design elements—from synthetic turf installed over a cistern-like gravel base, to a rain garden positioned at the receiving end of several storm drains—will capture and retain the first inch and a half of rain in every storm, helping prevent wastewater from overwhelming the sewer system and inundating water treatment facilities. “It’s getting to the point where it’s malpractice not to design your parks and open space to capture and divert water,” says Trust for Public Land president Will Rogers. The organi- zation is currently at work planning similar water-smart playgrounds in cities from New York to Los Angeles.
BUILD GREEN, SAVE GREEN Thinking outside the box—or seawall—makes financial sense. By some esti- mates, erecting walls in New York’s harbor would cost taxpayers up to $10 billion. By contrast, green infrastructure costs a fraction to design, install, and maintain. “The economic advantages of green infrastructure are particularly appeal-
ing now, in a time of tight budgets,” says Jad Daley, director of The Trust for Public Land’s Climate Conservation Program. “There is clearly a new thirst in cities for using green infrastructure to meet their needs.” Communities with combined stormwater and wastewater sewer systems have a big incentive to adapt: they must comply with runoff pollution re- quirements in the Clean Water Act—or pay stiff penalties. “Cities increasingly face legal and public demands for cleaning up urban waters,” notes Adrian Benepe. “Green infrastructure has become a lead strategy to filter the day-to- day runoff that fouls our urban rivers and coastlines.” New York City is a green infrastructure leader, with a plan in place to spend $2.4 billion on water-storage projects over the next 18 years. It’s a move that will save taxpayers some $4.4 billion by avoiding the costs associ- ated with gray infrastructure such as floodgates. Cities like Cleveland, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon, are following suit, em-
bracing green infrastructure to meet legally mandated stormwater cleanups. Their strategies include installing stormwater-capture devices like street-level planters, porous concrete pocket parks, and “blue roofs” that store rainwater.
VISIONARY PLAYGROUNDS
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