It sounds like a bad cell phone connection

"Gaps in services."
It sounds like a bad cell phone connection.  I have a gap in essential services.

For parks.

That's me!

I'm in a huge gap.  I live more than 1/2 mile from a park or natural area.  I feel deprived.  In fact, I feel a little miffed and entitled to a park near me.  It's not that I don't appreciate or enjoy the wide, leafy streets with sidewalks on both sides where everyone in my neighborhood endlessly walks their dogs and chats with one another.  I don't have a dog, so all I do is walk and talk.

There is a neighborhood association swimming pool, but the public swim park is about 3/4 of a mile away.  It's great, but not walkable.  To get to the nearest school I would definitely have to walk over 1/2 mile - and then I'd have a choice of two schools to go to.  There are tennis courts at one and covered basketball hoops at the other.  I don't play tennis, but I still have to get in my car to get to the schools or Foothills Park or Millenium Plaza Park.  Waluga Park is an old favorite, but that's a couple of miles away too, along with Cooks Butte trails and views.  Where is there access to recreation around here?  I feel so... so bad.

I didn't feel bad at all until I read how bad off I am, and there are a lot more people just like me out there who would probably feel bad too - if they only knew how bad off they were.  I feel bad for the deprived people wo live on the lake and those who have acre lots in Forest Highlands, if only because they are living in ignorance of their deprivation.  This is a situation that calls for some serious funding!  Parks for all!  Check out the Park Plan 2035  (pg. 59, Map 4: Gaps In Essential Services) to see if you have reason to whine also. Also check out Fig. 2-4 for more park services maps.

Remember, if you can't find everything you want or need within a half mile if your home, the city owes you - big time!  The city is there to serve you.

Note:  The 1/2 mile to anyplace you may want or need to go that you keep reading about refers to The Congress of New Urbanism's estimate of the distance an adult can walk in 20 minutes, hence the universal goal of the 20-minute [walkable] neighborhood.   More about the silliness of New Urbanism in a future post.  Until then, I think I deserve access to a boat easement near me courtesy of the city of Lake Oswego, and I know the perfect property!