Better Block’s demonstration at Forest Audelia Village is helping redefine the neighborhood
Renderings courtesy of the Better Block Foundation.
Additional coverage from Sally Wamre.
F.or a couple of weeks in October and November, the Forest Audelia Village parking lot will turn into a park exploring a long-term vision for the space.
Project Safe Neighborhood is funding the demonstration with daily fitness classes, cultural music, food, drink, and resource-based initiatives like pop-up clinics and homework help.
In the past few months, the Oak Cliff-based Better Block Foundation has been soliciting contributions from residents and community leaders to determine how the project should be developed.
“I think some people are still wondering how to use a space like this. And that’s what this month-long demonstration is for, during which many different things are tested, ”says Kristin Leiber, Senior Project Manager at Better Block. “This is only version one in a multi-stage iteration. We will see several park life cycles here. “
Better Block’s goal is to develop and realize temporary spaces in Dallas that encourage neighbors to rethink how places can be defined and enable them to make changes of their own in the future.
Forest Audelia Village is a central point in the neighborhood where many different communities converge: apartment complexes, single-family houses, a refugee population and low-income housing.
“This park is an opportunity for people from different cultures to live together in a meaningful way,” says Leiber.
Each activity fits in the approximately 50 x 70 foot temporary parking space. There is a basketball court in this area; open green space with shade, light and seating; and a children’s playground with game pieces and rubber game pieces. A pedestrian walkway lines the perimeter and a zebra crossing connects the demonstration with the surrounding shopping center.
A supporter of the Better Block project is Jamie Coleman, pastor of the Nexus Community Church, which looks after more than 100 families of the neighborhood’s refugee and immigrant populations. Coleman says the park will help newcomers learn about life in the United States and share its cultures with the community.
“Refugees who manage to escape unthinkable violence in their home countries don’t want to encounter the same things in their new backyards,” says Coleman. “Who wants that? This park is intended to reshape others’ perspective on what this space can be, and this is the first step. “
Jake Finch is a single family home owner and has lived in the Woodbridge subdivision in Forest and Audelia for the past five years, where he lives with his wife and four children.
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