McCarver Park (151 Good Days in Tacoma: Afternoon in Upper Tacoma)

Yesterday's search for a few new Tot Lots turned out to be a bust, so we drove all over the South end and back up to Upper Tacoma and ended up at McCarver Park, at S J and S 23rd. McCarver Park reminds you of just how high on top of Tacoma you are in this neighborhood. Just beyond the park fence, the view drops off into a spectacular vista of clouds and mountains, even when there's a little cloud cover. I need to come back on a totally clear day and take pictures.

My daughter made a friend her age and size. This is a pretty unusual and special thing for her (she's big for her age) so we hung out for a long time and enjoyed the playground. There were some great kids around, and the girls had a lot of fun. This is a neighborhood where older teens take care of younger siblings and everyone watches out for each other. Where I live, it's rare to see teenagers out at the park interacting with younger kids at all, and it was nice to see.

Right now, McCarver kind of looks like the forgotten park. The equipment is mostly pretty new (aside from the cool old spider climber thing) and in good shape, but the wading pool sits empty and forgotten, surrounded by a rusting fence. The grass is patchy and a little brown, and the open space is not at all inviting.

There's no welcoming Metro Parks sign to tell you that you've found McCarver Park, just a lot of kids riding bikes, playing basketball, and playing baseball at the school next door. I wonder a little sometimes about the Park Bond Project priorities. I really appreciate the parks around here in the North End, but I can't help but notice there's practically one hovering parent per kid at some of those parks with sparkling new water features and playground staff, while in other neighborhoods it seems like the parks don't even get to have a sign until 2011.

I hope that when the Bond Project comes to Upper Tacoma, Metro Parks might think about putting in a Summer Playground Program site somewhere, maybe even McCarver. Currently, there's no program site between Wright Park and South Park.

parks, parks map, Summer fun

Yesterday's search for a few new Tot Lots turned out to be a bust, so we drove all over the South end and back up to Upper Tacoma and ended up at McCarver Park, at S J and S 23rd. McCarver Park reminds you of just how high on top of Tacoma you are in this neighborhood. Just beyond the park fence, the view drops off into a spectacular vista of clouds and mountains, even when there's a little cloud cover. I need to come back on a totally clear day and take pictures.

My daughter made a friend her age and size. This is a pretty unusual and special thing for her (she's big for her age) so we hung out for a long time and enjoyed the playground. There were some great kids around, and the girls had a lot of fun. This is a neighborhood where older teens take care of younger siblings and everyone watches out for each other. Where I live, it's rare to see teenagers out at the park interacting with younger kids at all, and it was nice to see.

Right now, McCarver kind of looks like the forgotten park. The equipment is mostly pretty new (aside from the cool old spider climber thing) and in good shape, but the wading pool sits empty and forgotten, surrounded by a rusting fence. The grass is patchy and a little brown, and the open space is not at all inviting.

There's no welcoming Metro Parks sign to tell you that you've found McCarver Park, just a lot of kids riding bikes, playing basketball, and playing baseball at the school next door. I wonder a little sometimes about the Park Bond Project priorities. I really appreciate the parks around here in the North End, but I can't help but notice there's practically one hovering parent per kid at some of those parks with sparkling new water features and playground staff, while in other neighborhoods it seems like the parks don't even get to have a sign until 2011.

I hope that when the Bond Project comes to Upper Tacoma, Metro Parks might think about putting in a Summer Playground Program site somewhere, maybe even McCarver. Currently, there's no program site between Wright Park and South Park.