The park that I visit is situated next to the bike path and is therefore tightly bound with society. However, what about culture? This is a park in Burlington, VT. People here, in general, love the outdoors and climb mountains. This scrubby little park along the bike train does not draw many visitors. The people who do visit this park are the people who use the bike trail regularly on foot or who go there with their dogs.
This park has seen a culture of athletes and dog owners and nature lovers. The culture of Burlington, VT. People who want to live in a city but also in the mountains. However, there are people who live near the park. Not in houses but in tents, sheltered by the sumac trees. From afar you see the parks along the bike trail, but if you walk around their edges and look into the sparse woods that buffer the lake from the parks, you will see tents and tarps and trash. People who live in Burlington who are not able to travel, or own a house. This park has seen that culture. The culture of poverty.
