not everything has to sprawl, boyhowdy. some things are better when they’re compact
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it’s DEFINTELY compact I’ll give you that.
the DENSITY people like? lol
i get it that there are all those brick buildings in the way they chose to fit around them. And likely it may be best spot for a flat playground easy to walk and park nearby. A shame they had to shoehorn it in there, is all.
It depends on which people you are talking about? Those that like close proximity or those who prefer the wide open spaces of say the big field???
If you want to compare something, compare just the play area of Cary’s downtown park to this play area.
They are simply different animals, especially at scale, and we won’t see the entirety of Dix Park for decades as it moves throught its masterplan.
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This is a double bingo - ding, ding, ding.
I mean, my guy, do you not realize how enormous of an area this covers? I’ve circled what appears to be a full-sized box truck (without the box) in red. It’s “compact” and “densely” built… over an absolutely HUGE amount of space lmao
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I think some people having lived recently on a tenth of an acre have no idea what 18.5 acres really is…you are right. This thing is going to be huge in comparison to Cary’s Park or Pullen Park or Chavis Park. Name it. Just everyone hold judgement from all these photos and go visit when it opens and then report back. I bet it doesn’t feel near as “crowded” as you are fearing. And if it does, I bet you can easily find a space to get away from the crowd without ever leaving the Park.
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Gipson play park is 18.5 acres. Cary’s downtown park is 7.
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For more context, here are some other parks in the general area:
Pullen Park: 67 Acres
Chavis Park: 28.87 Acres
Moore/Nash Squares: 4.5 Acres each
Fred Fletcher Park: 21.4 Acres
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100% get that. This is only the first part to get a makeover.
It’s play space is bigger than the entire Cary downtown park.
TOTALLY UNDERSTAND.
Just visually it’s just unfortunate it couldn’t be more spread out. All I’m saying.
the paths look unnecessarily crowded, like paths just to have paths. Haphazard.
I wish like hell those janky brick buildings and steam plant weren’t in the way. It would be so much more pleasing (to me.). Glad others like it though.
ANYTHING would be better than what has been til now a dilapidated insane asylum LOL
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I agree with @svp , let’s not pass judgment until we are boots on the ground. Also, as the foilage and trees mature, they will also make an impact.
Given that the play park is so large, I imagine that the paths are designed for service vehicles in addition to a large number of people who might be sharing them.
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Yes. I have kids, some of whom have begun to age out of the playground phase, some of whom have not - I have been to countless playgrounds all over the region.
First, the downtown Cary park. The playground there is really cool and fun, it might honestly feel like the most special playground right now in the entire region - but it’s pretty small - the playground itself is not that big. It’s 3/4 acre of a 7-acre park.
For comparison: the play area at Laurel Hills Park is listed at about 3.5 acres.
Kids Together Playground at Dorrell Park in Cary is about 2 acres.
The playground at Pleasant Park in Apex is technically isted at 1.5 acres, but if you take the entire kids play area, it’s about 3.5 acres.
The entire playground and amusements area at Pullen Park is, generously, about 4 acres. (Half that if you cut out the amusements like the carousel, train, and boats, and look only at the playground.)
Each of these is a larger-than-normal playground. (The typical play area at most parks is less than a half acre.) And anybody who’s been to any of those places on a nice spring Saturday has seen how ridiculously swamped with kids all of them get.
So 18.5 acres at Gipson is just absolutely next level. five times the size of the play area at laurel hills?! I just about can’t fathom it!
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kids together park is amazing. Easy to lose sight of where your kids are in it, when i’ve taken mine there.
I’m glad for 18 acres of play space here, don’t get me wrong!
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IMO all of the playgrounds I listed above are amazing. You should take your kids to all of them, if you haven’t.
I scoped it out on Google Maps and I think the actual play area at Gipson is going to be closer to 9, maybe 10 acres (the rest of the advertised 18.5 seems to be for parking and vehicular access) but that’s still quite impressive, something that doesn’t really exist anywhere around here. It’s getting into “small amusement park” territory. In fact, the only thing I can think of in the ballpark is Hill Ridge Farms out in Youngsville, which is indeed a small amusement park that charges admission, not a public park.
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The Maggie Daley play garden at the Maggie Daley Park at Millenium Park in Chicago is 3 acres.
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You can probably find a secluded tree somewhere in the park to pee. 
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My park is bigger then your park.
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My tree is taller than your tree
My walkway is wider than your walkway
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