Granted, I& #39;m not a public health or parks expert. But it seems like common sense that closing lots of @chicagoparks in an effort to stop people from congregating is counterproductive. People will just gather in the streets in front of their homes, or inside their houses instead.
Meanwhile, by closing parks you& #39;re denying people the ability to get fresh air and healthy physical activity, which is good for mental health and boosting the immune system. Sure, you may prevent some congregating, but is that really a net positive for @ChiPublicHealth?
It seems like a wiser approach would be to do a better job of educating the public about why *certain* kinds of outdoor activity -- hanging out in big groups, team sports, playground use are bad. If necessary use parks workers or cops to break this up, but don& #39;t close parks.
Instead of closing parks, which squeezes people into increasingly crowded public space, we should be creating more capacity for recreation, spreading out the population, by opening streets for car-free transportation and rec, like these cities are doing. https://twitter.com/MikeLydon/status/1248206623857934337">https://twitter.com/MikeLydon...