Benton Park

Nice little park. Usually there’s a lot of litter but there’s a nice little lake to run by. I still prefer Tower Grove but Benton Park is close to my house so I’ll take that.

I love Benton Park!
Here’s why:
–It’s hilly and shady and beautiful.
–The lake is great. People fish there a lot. One time my partner Emily and I took a raft out on it and chilled. That was pretty sweet.
–The teeter totter in the playground is pretty cool.
–The Cherokee Recreation Center is in the park and there is a pool there. $ 2 swimming, ya’ll! Also great for 70’s high school gym vibes, if you are into that sort of thing (I am, duh.)
–They apparently have some cool events, though I haven’t made it out yet.

This is a fantastic park if you are looking to pick up a prostitute or buy some drugs. I made the mistake of taking the kids I babysit there and one of them was yelled at by a prostitute to move out of the way. We then had the pleasure of witnessing her pick up a man on a park bench after failing to pick up another.
The used tampon applicator and used condom at the park’s bus stop on Jefferson deserve honorable mentions as well.
My first visit there was a few years ago. I had just purchased a pretzel and drink from Gus’s and decided to walk over and enjoy the park. Some guy’s huge dog aggressively attacked me spilling my drink on me and taking my pretzel. No idea why the dog was not on a leash. Of course the guy didn’t seem to care that his dog hurt me and took my food. I guess it saved him some money.
It is a shame because the park has a lot of potential. It could be a beautiful space but it is wasted. I am sure there are plenty of people nearby who love it but it needs some serious patrolling and cleanup in the area surrounding.

Oh man, I think most people forget that the area Benton Park has its own little park… also called Benton Park.
Ok, I mean it’s a little park. You can probably walk around this thing in ten minutes. It doesn’t offer anything really that special and it’s not all beautiful and amazing. They do have fishing, which is pretty awesome for a park in the middle of the city and it makes me laugh to think about people walking through Benton Park with fishing poles to catch the fish in this pond. It’s an interesting place to say the least.
I like the idea of little parks like this dotting the city and being good places of recreation. If we are really going to the city back to where it was in its hay day, we have to keep places like this up. Having a park in your neighborhood just adds something that nothing else really can. Even if this park is little and not all that special.

Why doesn’t little Benton Park already have a Unilocal listing? Sure, it’s a pretty tiny park that people don’t visit much, but it’s nice and cute and people can fish there, which is strange.
Benton Park is small and you can see from one end to the other and bike across it in seconds, but it’s a nice little place to walk, and I feel like it’s somewhere more money used to be invested.
The neighborhood website is pretty impressive, listing tons of things to do and places to go, as well as info if you’re thinking about living in that area.