GROWING GREENER AND SAFER COMMUNITIES!

Did you know that green spaces such as parks and protected land are actually good for public safety? This interesting report shines a light on the relationship between green space and safe space.

Some interesting information is out on the topic of green space in neighborhoods and the impact they have on community safety. The report, “How Cities Use Parks to Create Safer Neighborhoods,” offers the following:

“For those concerned that green spaces may foster crime and illegal activity, evidence now exists that the opposite may be true. These are the findings of scientists at the Human-Environment Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studied green space alongside public housing in Chicago. Other researchers who are conducting similar studies across the country are finding similar results.”

(Source: https://www.planning.org/cityparks/briefingpapers/saferneighborhoods.htm)

Key Point #1:

Time spent in nature immediately adjacent to home helps people to relieve mental fatigue, reducing aggression.

Key Point #2:

Green residential spaces are gathering places where neighbors form social ties that produce stronger, safer neighborhoods.

Key Point #3:

Barren spaces are more frightening to people and are more crime prone than parks landscaped with greenery and open vistas.

Key Point #4:

In order to make the best use of greenery and open space, it must be positively incorporated into a community's design.

The report concludes: “The factors that explain these findings emphasize the importance of greenery in community and personal wellness.Time spent in natural surroundings relieves mental fatigue, which in turn relieves inattentiveness, irritability, and impulsivity, recognized by psychologists as precursors to violence. Green spaces also support frequent, casual contact among neighbors. This leads to the formation of neighborhood social ties, the building blocks of strong, secure neighborhoods where people tend to support, care about, and protect one another.”

Might this study might reframe the way you think about shopping for a home? If you’re looking for a home close to lots and lots of green space I can help find you that ideal location: valeriemcconville@gmail.com

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