Washington Park

One of the many products of our socialist past, this park is an excellent use of our taxes. It’s a really big park, you can easily forget you’re in the middle of a major city in here. It’s an excellent place for a bicycle ride, a picnic, a walk with someone special, a walk to get away from people, a place for children to play, or to observe nature.

What a great park!
At least once a week when the weather is warmer my kids (3 & 5) and I like to check out a new park. I’ve been meaning to visit Washington Park for a couple months now after reading about the ‘pods’ that are along a trail. It didn’t disappoint! The kids had so much fun running along the trail to explore the next pod. The park was clean and well kept, and there was a nice parking area right next to the trail. We could also see a traditional playground area while we were driving around, but we didn’t stop today.
There was a group there handing out lunches. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name b/​c I’d love to give them a shout out. When a gentleman stopped me on our way out of the park he handed us some lunches and juice pouches and said they were giving back to the community. That totally made my day. :)

Now I fully realize there’s probably going to be people who will say this is a decent park, near some neighborhoods on the verge of gentrification. And then there’s going to be those others who say I’m B$t sh&t crazy for biking through here (they’d probably say it in nicer terms but I’m pretty sure that’s the vibe I’m detecting.)
But I really don’t care –I still love this park and part of town so I’m putting it out there — a full 5 stars, even if it needs a little work around the edges.
Washington Park is a big, beautiful park west of Downtown and east of Wauwatosa. It’s former name «West Side Park» speaks to the old city borders (although really when you consider where Tosa starts, this is still sort of the west side… hmm.)
Anyhow…it was designed by Frederic Olmsted (whose third name I’m drawing a blank on, but you know the guy– he designed Central Park, Lake Park, etc.) The area and the park just always feel a little bit «historical» — many of the streets near it are a little quieter than other parts of the city and I think that adds to it.
Once upon a time before the 1950s or 60s, it also housed the zoo. It then lost some of its acreage to highway 41 and the zoo moved to Bluemound Road. It’s still a vast space compared to other public parks: there’s a band shell, a lagoon, an Urban Ecology Center. Along the northside of the park where the roads of Lisbon, Sherman, and Lloyd meet, there’s a huge statue of a man on a horse (George Washington? I think?), as well as the relatively new Washington Park Library.
Neighborhoods and places in cities that are considered «bad,» «not good,» or whatever present a real quagmire. People may be leery to come here because it isn’t in Downtown, Tosa, the eastside, etc. and want to wait til it is deemed «safe» and «good» to go. But how will a place like this park ever have a chance to become those things if no one is willing to make a leap of faith and visit it? When it’s the very attention, goodwill, and interest of people who care about parks that might turn everything around.
So I’m saying 5 stars.
Sometimes, a place, person or thing grows and becomes what is said about it — good or bad When I ride past, there’s always alot of kids playing in the playground near the library here. I can only imagine what it does to someone’s psyche, even years later to think you played and grew up in the «bad» or «scary» part of town. Blahhhh! Anyhow…
This park is in the middle of a city, and sure, you should be somewhat careful — there’s always the possibility that bad things can happen in public places with lots of people. But what gets missed by not seeing the other side of that equation is all the great things that can happen, too. That by venturing somewhere new and unfamiliar to you, there’s possibilities. It’s what makes cities and urban areas feel so alive.
Too preachy? Too long? Eh, sorry, but I’ve had this review on my mind for awhile and I still really like this place.