An average park you will pass by if you are checking in and out of some of the museum in Portland. It did not look entirely safe due to some homeless people

This is a pretty park between Pioneer Courthouse square and the PSU Farmers Market. So, definitely na pretty place to walk between these locations. However, we were turned off by the number of homeless people in the park, some of whom were very noisy.

In reviewing Tanner Springs Park (5 stars), I mentioned the fact that most parks are anti-nature. The South Park Blocks is a prime example of a park with an anti-nature orientation. Except for a small area with native plants, the park is block after block of desolate, lifeless mud flats, interspersed with trees. The intention is to have lawns around the trees, but grass doesn't grow under the trees due to the shade. Nature wants to grow a forest with a diverse understory, but the parks people keep fighting her to grow grass. So instead of letting the dropped leaves and twigs build up a healthy soil community, they remove all the organic matter. The result is desolation instead of a biodiverse community of native plants and associated insects , worms, arthropods, and birds. Considering the fact that all animals and insects are fast disappearing due to loss of habitat, shouldn't a progressive city such as Portland change its ways to support and regenerate habitat for our non-human relations? It would help ourselves as well, given the strong evidence that encounters with biodiversity support human health and flourishing.

Lined with magnificent churches, historic apartments, the Portland Art Museum, Portland State University,and a few retail stores, the South Park Blocks are really beautiful all seasons of the year. It is a long but narrow span of great trees and places to sit for enjoying people watching and enjoying a slice of nature in an urban setting. anyone visiting Portland is sure to enjoy a stop here. It is also home to this Saturday’s farmers market!

Nice place for a quiet stroll or a location for some relaxed reading. This tree covered slice of Portland borders the art museum and is close to the Concert Hall. There are statues of Teddy Roosevelt, Rough Rider and Abraham Lincoln. In addition, one can take in the Brushstrokes sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein outside the art museum as you walk through the trees. The First Congregational Church borders the park---it has interesting architecture. It was very quiet and empty the Sunday afternoon when I visited---which made it all the more attractive.