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pocket p ark s

Paley Park (New York, NY)

A pocket park is a small outdoor space,
usually no more than ¼ of an acre, usually only
a few house lots in size or smaller, most often
located in an urban area surrounded by
commercial buildings or houses on small lots
with few places for people to gather, relax, or
to enjoy the outdoors. They are also called vest
pocket parks, a term first used in the 1960’s.
Paley Park’s popularity is due to its design that provides a
quiet escape from the city in Midtown Manhattan. Every
detail of the park was crafted in order to mitigate city noise
and create a peaceful space in the middle of urban life. To
help prevent sound from directly entering from the street
and to create a sense of privacy in the space, the entire
park is slightly elevated from street-level by several steps.
The dense ivy on the walls and the low tree canopy work as
a sound barrier and the waterfall feature on the back wall
produces white noise that drowns out the sounds of the
city.

Transamerica Redwood Park (San Francisco, CA)

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