October 29, 2009, 7:30 am

City Seeks Ways to Adapt Parks to Immigrants
By Jennifer 8. Lee

How should city parks adapt to immigrants? Various cities have been considering the question.

In Minneapolis, for example, a large influx of immigrants from Somalia meant more soccer and cricket pitches, and fewer tennis courts. In Chicago, the city’s large Mexican immigrant population is attracted to city parks less for the jogging trails and more as a type of town plaza for large social gatherings.

In New York, where some 40 percent of the city’s population is foreign-born, it’s been a constant quest to adjust the 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreation facilities that stretch across the five boroughs. “In a way we are always playing catch-up,â€