Cobden Street Park, South Side Slopes: 2823 Cobden Street
Most of Pittsburgh’s parks and playgrounds were built when the City was rapidly growing in population. By 1950, the 90 neighborhoods held ~677,000 people, compared to today’s population of ~307,668. This loss means many different things. On the positive side, it means MORE space per person. Today, (as I hope my social media posts have shown), the options are plentiful for folks who want to enjoy uncrowded parks and playgrounds or wooded greenway trails. On the negative side, the City has many public spaces to maintain but considerably less tax revenue to pay the bills.
It’s also necessary to acknowledge neighborhood demographic changes, such as the City’s ongoing population loss of those under 19 years old and modern-day recreation preferences and options (which are considerably different and more abundant than ever). This means spaces like the Cobden Street basketball courts are likely underused. While this space doesn’t require much upkeep, questions remain: Should the land be sold for private use? Is there some other purpose that benefits the public good? In the case of Cobden, the current situation isn’t bad: it’s a clean and maintained space. But does the potential exist to create something better?
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