Worcester CoolPockets

City of Worcester

About the Project

Building Community Resilience Through Designing CoolPockets

Thanks to state funding, Worcester will soon be home to two new CoolPockets designed to reduce the impact of extreme heat in neighborhoods that need the most relief!

The City of Worcester's Department of Sustainability and Resilience was awarded a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant for these projects by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. We contracted with BSC Group, an engineering firm with extensive experience in urban landscape design and Guillermo Creamer, a community liaison charged with engaging neighbors and spreading the word about the projects.

This 2023 MVP grant allowed us to create conceptual design for two CoolPocket parks in Worcester, in some of the most densely populated neighborhoods. These projects advance our goal of promoting climate resilience to extreme heat, as well as many other goals related to air quality, flooding, biodiversity, community building and resilience.

The CoolPocket sites are located in Massachusetts-designated Environmental Justice Communities with high heat vulnerability.

CoolPockets

CoolPockets site concepts were designed for:

Columbus Park Elementary School
Vernon Hill Park

These community spaces will provide shady nooks to gather, relax, and find respite from the heat island effect caused by a concentration of buildings, concrete sidewalks, and asphalt. CoolPocket site concepts were designed, but not built, for two city properties during this grant cycle.

Columbus School CoolPocket

The CoolPocket design is for the play area yard behind Columbus Park Elementary School, adjacent to the parking lot.

**Columbus Park Elementary School Play Yard**

The existing site could benefit from alternatives to asphalt for the play areas, with enhanced shade tree plantings, shade structures, and cooling surfaces integrated throughout the site.

Columbus Park Elementary School CoolPocket Design Workshop

We worked with the school administration to design a class activity – a workshop - for 6th grade students. This workshop gave students the chance to share their ideas on various green infrastructure elements they'd like to see incorporated into the CoolPocket design at the school.

Students worked in groups to design their own CoolPockets using cut out images of landscape elements.

Several students advocated for shade structures over existing benches and picnic tables, especially near game areas like soccer and basketball. Others, expressed an interest in improved facilities, while some introduced new activities they’d like to see. Less structured play areas were mentioned, with an emphasis on enhancing the currently empty back corner of the space, and there was a stated need for storage bins for game equipment, backpack and coat hangers, and a drinking fountain close to the building.

Finally, students requested flowering and fruit trees on the site. The property holds a recently installed memorial bench, where students suggested planting a memorial tree.

Another activity at the workshop was a dot voting exercise. Students voted for their favorite design elements by placing sticker dots next to them. The results included:

Shade Structures (53)
Picnic Area (20)
Nature Plan (17)
Water Feature (17)
Large Trees (16)
Outdoor Classroom (13)
Fruit/Flowering Trees (11)
Community Garden (6)
Seating (6)
Green Infrastructure (5)
Native Plantings/Pollinator Garden (3)
Educational Signage (3)

Students were also asked to draw and share other ideas for the CoolPocket as homework. Parents were encouraged to participate in the design process by helping their 6th graders.

Online Survey

An online survey was shared with Columbus Park Elementary School students to fill out with family members in English and Spanish. Parents reviewed 12 CoolPocket design elements and rated their preferences on the scale of 1 (Dislike) to 5 (Like). The average rating of results on the scale of 1 (Dislike) to 5 (Like) included:

Shade Structures (5)
Large Shade Trees (5)
Seating Area (3)
Educational Signage (5)
Community Garden (5)
Picnic Area (5)
Outdoor Classroom (5)
Nature Play (5)
Green Infrastructure (Raingarden, etc.) (5)
Native Plantings/Pollinator Gardens (5)
Flowering/Fruit Trees (5)
Water Features (5)

Columbus Park Elementary School Concept Design

The Columbus Park Elementary School Concept Design incorporates several ideas from the workshop, including:

Backpack and Coat Hangers
Turf Soccer Field
Memorial Tree
Pervious Paving for Sports Play Areas (e.g. basketball court, volleyball court)
Shade Structures
Rain Garden and Bioswale
Nature Play
Informal Play with Paint Markings (e.g. hopscotch)
Shaded Picnic Areas
Community Garden
Outdoor Classroom with a Pollinator Garden

Vernon Hill Park CoolPocket

The CoolPocket design is for three site areas (highlighted in orange below).

The existing site could benefit from green infrastructure elements to capture rain water, enhanced shade tree plantings, and shade structures throughout the site.

Vernon Hill Park CoolPocket Design Workshop

This workshop gave participants the chance to share their ideas on various green infrastructure elements they'd like to see incorporated into the CoolPocket design at Vernon Hill Park. Participants worked in groups to design their own CoolPockets using cut out images of landscape elements.

Several participants advocated for accessible pathways with shade trees to create a cooler, more comfortable environment for walkers. Participants also suggested green infrastructure elements to absorb rainwater, succession planting including Miyawaki forest, native pollinator garden, fruit trees, and a community garden. Participants also proposed shaded area for community events and gatherings and interactive play areas such as a a math trail, nature play, and a splash pad.

Participants also mentioned that an existing slope in southwest corner of site B-1 is used for sledding in winter and the high point on this site area offers views of playing fields.

Another activity at the workshop was a dot voting exercise. Participants voted for their favorite design elements by placing sticker dots next to them. The results included:

Native Plantings (7)
Large Shade Trees (6)
Miyawaki Forest (6)
Green Infrastructure (6)
Community Garden (5)
Picnic Area (5)
Nature Play (4)
Shade Structures (3)
Wet Meadow (3)
Water Feature (3)
Flowering/Fruit Trees (3)
Permeable Pavement (3)

Online Survey

Participants were asked to review 12 CoolPocket design elements and rate their preferences on the scale of 1 (Dislike) to 5 (Like). A link to the online survey was shared widely in English and Spanish. The average rating of results on the scale of 1 (Dislike) to 5 (Like) included:

Large Shade Trees (4.8)
Miyawaki Forest (4.7)
Native Plantings/Pollinator Garden (4.5)
Green Infrastructure (Raingarden, etc.) (4.3)
Seating Areas (4.2)
Flowering Trees (4.2)
Community Garden (4.0)
Wet Meadow (4.0)
Picnic Area (4.0)
Shade Structures (4.0)
Educational Signage (3.8)
Nature Play (3.7)
Permeable Pavement (3.7)
Water Features (3.3)

Vernon Hill Park Concept Design

The Vernon Hill Park Concept Design incorporates several ideas from the workshop, including:

Miyawaki Forest
Rain Garden and Bioswales
Wet Meadow
Permeable Surfaces
Shade Structures
Shaded Picnic Areas
Informal Amphitheatre Seating
Seating Area
Nature Play
Splash Pad
Pollinator Garden
Community Garden
Shade and Fruit Trees
Youth Soccer Field
Accessible Paths

Crowdsource Map

Are there areas in your neighborhood that get really hot? We need your help finding locations for potential resilient solutions, such as CoolPockets.

Map Your Ideas!

Project Timeline

The CoolPocket design activities are being funded by 2023 MVP Grant, which ends on June 30, 2024. However, there will be ongoing work after that - we will be pursuing additional grant funds to implement the CoolPocket conceptual designs at the Columbus Park School and Vernon Hill Park sites.

Community Design Workshops

Columbus Park Elementary School

For Columbus Park Elementary School 6th Grade Class Only.

Vernon Hill Park Workshop

Thursday May 23, 2024 - Worcester Senior Center, 128 Providence Street, Worcester

Glossary

Climate Adaptation: Taking action to prepare for and adjust to both the current and projected impacts of climate change. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Climate Change: Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Source: United Nations

Community Space Design Workshop: A workshop to share your ideas and preferences for design elements of two CoolPockets in the City.

**Community Design Workshop at Columbus Park Elementary School**

CoolPocket: A CoolPocket is a small park for neighbors and friends to gather, relax, and find respite from extreme heat. It may include water features, bird habitat, pollinator gardens, trees and other green infrastructure, and more.

Environmental Justice: In Massachusetts, an environmental justice population is a neighborhood where one or more of the following criteria are true:

the annual median household income is 65 percent or less of the statewide annual median household income
minorities make up 40 percent or more of the population
25 percent or more of households identify as speaking English less than "very well"
minorities make up 25 percent or more of the population and the annual median household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 percent of the statewide annual median household income. Source: EOEEA

Green Infrastructure: A range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters. Source: Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, Public Law 115-436.

Miyawaki Forest: Miyawaki Forests are small, dense, layered urban plantings that grow vigorously and help to cool ‘heat islands’, improve air quality and biodiversity, and foster climate resilience in urban places.

**Planting Day for Miyawaki Forest at Plumley Village**

Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program: The MVP grant program provides support for cities and towns in Massachusetts to plan for climate change resiliency and implement priority projects. The Commonwealth awards funding to communities to complete vulnerability assessments and develop and implement action-oriented resiliency plans.

Pollinator Garden: A pollinator garden is a type of garden designed with the intent of growing specific nectar and pollen-producing plants, in a way that attracts pollinating insects known as pollinators. Source: Attracting Native Pollinators: The Xerces Society Guide to Conserving North American Bees and Butterflies and Their Habitat.

Rain Garden: A rain garden is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rain water from a roof, driveway or street and allows it to soak into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property. Rain gardens can also help filter out pollutants in runoff and provide food and shelter for butterflies, song birds and other wildlife. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Urban Heat Island Effect: "Urban heat islands" occur when cities replace natural land cover with dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb and retain heat. This effect increases energy costs (e.g., for air conditioning), air pollution levels, and heat-related illness and mortality. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)