Quote Originally Posted by d0zer View Post
There is simply a higher economic demand for developed land than there is public parks.
In certain places. There is absolutely no demand for developed land at Northwest Trek. This wildlife preserve/tour/zoo/whatever is pretty awesome. I've been there a couple times. It's run in a sort of public-private way, I think. I think in a free market where the government doesn't guarantee parks, places like this would arise in the hinterland, would have far better attractions and services and better transportation to and from. I think if nature preserves/attractions were purely private, we would see all sorts various things like giant Disneylands of nature for vacations, small parks in residential areas, preserves for various outdoor activities, etc.

The issue is that networks naturally organize in a certain way, and Central Park is an affront to how NYC would organize itself if people weren't forced to pay for it. In the long run, I think fixing this would give more people better access to parks because it would allow supply to more adequately represent demand. Central Park isn't exactly that great for people in NYC. I haven't been there, but I bet that it's far more difficult to access a park in the city center than if there were ones outside the city