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Though our residents do not have a neighborhood garden or park to visit, we do have a number of informal public spaces in various cul-de-sacs throughout the neighborhood. Our closest formal public space is the track and tennis courts of Bearden Middle School. West Hills Park, which serves the West Hills area is approximately one mile from our neighborhood.
What are Public Spaces? As defined by Wordiq.com public space or a public place is a place where anyone has a right to come without paying an entrance or other fee.
But public space is much more than that: Why are public spaces important? Public space is important as a neutral meeting ground, a place for people of diverse backgrounds to meet and children and adults learn socializing skills. Public spaces allow us to practice free speech to see what kind of reaction we get or simply to go somewhere other than home. Public space acts as a gathering place for people to learn about the community they live in and ways to make it better by connecting with one another. Does our neighborhood have public spaces that work? Well . . . Yes and No. Because our neighborhoods are split by Frances Road, West Hills Park has a different configuration than Westavia Woods. West Hills Park is larger has a number of roads leading through it that are used by people not in our neighborhood association and others that are just taking a shortcut. On the other hand, Westavia Woods is circular in design and ahs only one entrance/exit road. These configurations coupled with the fact the our 1960s neighborhoods constitute one of Knoxville's rings of sprawl (meaning we have NO sidewalks) has lead our residents into making their own informal public spaces that are unknown to the general public, and, thus, just used by our neighbors. It wasn't until the building of the Bearden Middle School that local residents had a public place and space to meet each other. Most of our children will attend or have attended the school, so we use the tennis courts and track like they were our own. At least one child or grandkid has played a sport or two in the schools fields, so we meet at times to watch a game of soccer or baseball with our neighbors. Overall, the West Hills Park-Westavia Woods neighborhood has one formal public space that works, and six informal pseudo-public spaces - three that work to some degree, and three that simply are not used.
Toxaway Circle is the dead end of Toxaway Drive. The circle is a "play" area for the six children living in the area. This is also the place where we have our illegal annual Fourth of July fireworks display. We have developed a really nice relationship with our local police officers, who tend to be so busy that they can't shut us down until 10 pm. I do feel slightly guilty about having them come year after year to tell us we can't have fireworks in the city, but I guess it's a guilt I can live with. . . One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 10!
Park Hill Cicle used to be at the entrance to the farm house original to the land that now makes up our neighborhoods. After being a farm for many years, the owner rezoned the land surrounding their house into a gardening business. This zoning was grandfathered in when the surrounding acreage was zoned single family home (residential) to accomodate the development of our homes. Unfortunately Park Hill Circle never took off as an informal public space becuase the trucks that were used for the business needed to use this entrance/exit point. These are large trucks with some seriously fanatical driving being done. Most children chose to play at the deadend of Toxaway. One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 0!
Windihill Circle is used by the eight children living along West Park Drive, and the two children living in the circle. Surrounded by four homes filled with grandparents, this is a pretty lively area in the Summer. Of note is the fact that smaller children seem to play in the quiet area while older children play at the Toxaway Deadend. An annual easter egg hunt is held here for small kids in the center island, and the front yards of the surrounding homes. One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 9 because though it is a great place to play given the island in the middle, only small children can be seen playing, and the older kids can't really use the area for skateboarding, etc.
I have been told that Francis Circle used to be the place all the teenages hung out when the children of the circle were living at home. Now, the area never seems to be used. There is a desolate air to the place, and though the grassy circle seems to get a lot of sunlight; it is not mowed or used. One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 1 because though it is not used, it could be!
The area at the deadend of Stagecooch Trail is generally a very popular spot for the older kids to play. There is a wooded area next to the Prados house at the very end of the street. A number of forts have been built here, as well as illicit cigarettes smoked, a couple of beers drunk and one pretty significant fire set by a group of kids with a "Tom Sawyer" fixation. The deadend is also considered a throughway for the children living in the apartment complexes behind the Westavia Woods Neighborhood who want to play with their friends living here or want a safe way to travel to Bearden Middle School. Because of the circluar configuaration of this neighborhood, our residents can only enter/exit the area via Stagecoach Trail. There is not through traffic, and everyone living here drives slowly (except for Sally's two teenage sons) due to the kids and pets wandering around. Stagecoach Trail is blocked off in the middle of the street once per year for out Neighborhood Night Out Party. We also use the Westavia Woods neighborhood for our annual halloween and progressive dinner parties because it is such a safe area. One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 10!
Before the Hutchinson's started adding onto their home, the Westavia Deadend was where the dare devils jumped their bicycles and skateboards on ramps. It was a perfect location because there is a large slope at the top of the Westavia Drive and Stagecoach Trail intersection. So it just seems natural to put a ramp at the deadend of Westavia. Yes, indeed. Of the fifteen kids living in Westavia Woods, four have broken their arms, and two have had to have some serious dental work done. I guess twenty years from now you will be able to tell who has lived in our neighborhood - they will all have crooked arms and bad teeth. Unfortunately, since the never-ending five month construction project on the Hutchinson house began, there is simply no room for any of the kids to play. God only knows where they have gone . . . One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Informal Public Spaces in Our Neighborhood, I give it a 5, since at one time it was used constantly by our neighborhood dare devils, and is only used now by the unattractive construction workers!
The allure of Bearden Middle School is easy to see. The track is used during spring, summer and early fall for a number of residents to use. The photo below was taken on a Monday afternoon at 4:30 pm, and there were four people walking around the track - one with a dog. The tennis courts are used more frequently during the summer months when the neighborhood kids and their parents play a game or two, and we tend to meet informally on the soccer or baseball fields whenever school is in session and someone's child is playing an at-home game. One a Scale of 1-10 for Usable Formal Public Spaces near Our Neighborhood, I give it a 10!
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