Comments on: Parks, as big and Russian as they come

By: Kristin Svidersky

Kristin Svidersky — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:52:40 +0000

I, too, was a student once in St. Petersburg and spent an incredible year there. I remember once in class our teacher asked us what our favorite place was in St. Pete. I said mine was Park Pobedy. I really do love that place. My teacher looked at me strangely and said I was silly for saying a park could be my favorite place in such a culturally rich city!

By: Sarah M. Streed

Sarah M. Streed — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:01:04 +0000

Yes, that pesky litter does mar green space! Russia should take a lesson from a PR firm here in the U.S. which was hired to solve the problem of littering in Texas. They did their research and saw that the main culprit was the redneck (their term not mine) riding in the back of a pickup truck–gun on his lap–who tossed his beer cans out the back. They thought, What would reach this guy? What does he value? The answer: his freedom, his autonomy, his land, his pride. So they came up with the slogan “Don’t mess with Texas” and the most successful anti-litter campaign EVER was born. (This is a true story; I attended a PR conference in Tucson and heard one of the VPs give a talk.) So the question is: What does the Russian walking on the street who tosses down a bottle value?

By: Alec L

Alec L — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:53:46 +0000

Yeah, we’ve got some amazing national parkland in the U.S., but, unfortunately, green space usually takes a back seat to real estate whenever the two come in contact.
On the flip side here in Russia, there’s virtually no recycling. And with people drinking on the street, discarded bottles and cigarettes can often mar the green space.

By: Sarah M. Streed

Sarah M. Streed — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:17:30 +0000

Wow, these parks sound and look incredible! I’ve got to think that huge open green spaces have a positive effect on the Russian psyche. We’re lagging behind in the U.S. as the American “green space” movement has just gotten started. (For example, a few years ago in Laguna Beach, California–to name one–that community banded together to fight Mansionization and preserve some of the natural environment from development. They hired a lobbyist to run a successful ad campaign to defeat the developer-friendly city council and alert the citizens to the fact that green space was disappearing.) The Russian government has preserved this natural resource of land for the Russian people. It’s on the scale of our national parks, but in Russia it’s for the city. Impressive!