The Mission Boulevard linear park in Hayward, California, was the product of a $2 million budget and some creative design decisions.
Photo courtesy Surfacedesign
The Quest for the Low-Budget Park
As the costs of creating urban green space grow, cities are exploring new ways to fund and build public parks for the communities that need them the most.
When Hayward, California, began planning a mile-long linear park in August of 2020, the Bay Area city faced a number of daunting problems. The site was not promising — a thin, trash-strewn pathway adjacent to a main road, Mission Boulevard, with sparse plantings and minimal lighting. And the budget was a miniscule $2 million, or about $7.50 per square foot. Park developments of this scale typically run north of $50 or $60 a square foot.
To make an even more stark comparison: One mile of another celebrated linear park, New York City’s High Line, cost more than $150 million to construct more than a decade ago.