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This isn't something that can be quickly fixed, but it's something that I hope the Parks Department can give more attention to. I live near East Rock Park, and it's one of my favorite places and one I visit often. But one thing that's not so wonderful about it is the state of the lawns in the "College Woods" area. The grass there is in worse shape than the grass in most parks I have seen, including most other New Haven parks, and it's in much worse shape than the grass in many New York parks. Some cities have vast parks with many acres of beautiful grass. But the East Rock grass has been looking increasingly scruffy and bare and unattractive, and it receives only the barest minimum of attention. Of course it receives quite a bit of use for many purposes, including games of various types, and I'm not suggesting that this use be discouraged. But many other parks that receive similar or heavier use, including the New Haven Green, have much better tended and more attractive lawns that are also better suited for the use they get. If the grass from East Rock were transplanted to the New Haven Green, it would look bare and scruffy and unattractive and people wouldn't want to sit on it or use it for much of anything else.

One thing that's not helping is that vehicles get driven over the grass, wearing parts of it completely bare. Most of the vehicles I have seen driving on the grass were New Haven Parks Department vehicles, for no reason that I could see. It's not necessary for vehicles to drive on the grass, and most organizations that bring vehicles into the park use the roadway and keep their vehicles off the grass. But not the New Haven Parks Department. Why?

Of course I realize that budgets are limited, and I'm not expecting miracles, but for this long-time resident of New Haven, this is something that I'm not finding so attractive in an area that's usually considered one of the more attractive parts of the city. I think the New Haven Parks Department can do better here.