Tucson, AZ

I am a native Tucsonan and as with locals of any city we all have our own preconceived ideas, biases, and favorites when it comes to places in our hometown. For me growing up, Jacobs Park was always viewed as a bit of a run down park; a place you did not want to visit alone. I even worked at the local YMCA that is on the park grounds and our supervisors used to always tell us to keep a watchful eye over our campers as there were often a plethora of homeless wandering the grounds.  So, when my grandmother recently suggested that I take my children to Jacob’s Park I was understandably hesitant. She persisted and so I thought I’d give it a second chance.
Much to my surprise it barely resembled the Jacob’s Park of old. There was a huge children’s play area, named Milagro Playground, instead of just the single slide and swing set that I had remembered. The grounds were very nicely maintained and while there was one homeless man sleeping under a tree on the far side of the park, gone were the groups of them congregating by the children’s play equipment. They were replaced with mothers and fathers with young children, the elderly walking their dogs and school children on a field trip. It felt like a community, a place to go to socialize and have fun. It was not the run down park of my youth.

I let the kids play for an hour. One of the best features is that the playground is covered. The majority of the equipment is thus under shade. In Tucson, that is a huge plus. There were multiple swing sets, a mini rock climbing wall, various slides and rides, a sand pit with a variety of playground equipment, a teeter totter and some variation of a large “boat” that mimics the movement of a teeter totter. The equipment is some of the best I have seen and we’ve been to a lot of parks.

I admit that we had a great time, despite my earlier reluctance. I guess the lesson to be learned is that preconceived ideas are often wrong and the only way to discover this is to experience it for yourself. Had I allowed the memories I had of a park based on experiences from over ten years ago dictate or interfere with my decision to give it a second chance we would have missed out on a wonderful afternoon of fun and laughter.