Dear Dallas Arboretum Board of Directors-
Hands down, you’ve got the best outdoor space in Dallas. I’ve been to the Arboretum several times and I can honestly say it is every bit as beautiful as Central Park in New York City. I even like the mission statement on your website’s homepage: “to build and maintain a public garden.” That's a lovely goal and I applaud your efforts. Nevertheless, I regret to inform you that I will not become a member of the Dallas Arboretum this year.
I love parks and gardens and walking trails and flowers and anything that adds nature to a big city. So, it wouldn't be hard for me to love the Dallas Arboretum. But then I remember that you are only open from 9-5 . . . Unfortunately, I’m not independently wealthy. That means I have to work. Five days a week. From 9 to 5. I realize that a job is a terribly inconvenient thing to have, but that job is what allows me to contribute to public spaces in the first place. Regrettably, that same job means I only have access to the Dallas Arboretum on the weekend.
I’ve been to the Dallas Arboretum on three separate weekends over the years. It’s always a zoo. Finding an empty parking spot is an exercise in frustration. There are lines to buy tickets and lines to get in and even lines to get in the bathroom once you’re inside. You have to navigate around hundreds of people and their wagons and strollers and ice chests on wheels. You find a beautiful patch of grass, but you can’t sit down without injecting yourself into someone else’s family/engagement/Christmas picture. In three weekend visits over four years, I’ve never been able to walk down this tree-lined path:
I wish I could have taken this picture myself, but there were brides (plural) getting photographed there during each of my visits. And those brides-to-be with their families and wedding coordinators and photographers will give you the stink eye for daring to walk anywhere near them. In a “public” space. In a “public” garden.
I recognize that you can’t do anything about the crowds. I know parking has been an on-going battle and you’ve faced fierce opposition every time you try to create additional lots. I assume you get some financial benefit from opening the space to photographers and that means you probably can’t afford to do anything about the bitchy brides. But you could make the Arboretum more accessible to the public. More specifically, you could make the Arboretum more available to the working public. We can’t all be Ann Romney, you know. There are a lot of us who have to work.
The fact is that a garden is only as public as it is accessible. You’ve already precluded a significant portion of the Dallas population who can’t afford to spend $25 to get in. By closing every day at 5, you relegate the majority of the gainfully-employed public to weekend-only visits at the Dallas Arboretum. And let’s face it-- the Dallas Arboretum isn’t as enjoyable on the weekends when the amount of people inside seems to exceed the number of flowers there. By opening up the Arboretum in the evenings, you'd allow those of us who work 9-5 to experience the beauty of the gardens after work, which is probably when we need it most. Plus, there's a good chance that by allowing garden-goers to visit in the evenings, the Arboretum might be a more pleasant (i.e., less crowded) place on the weekends.
The fact is that a garden is only as public as it is accessible. You’ve already precluded a significant portion of the Dallas population who can’t afford to spend $25 to get in. By closing every day at 5, you relegate the majority of the gainfully-employed public to weekend-only visits at the Dallas Arboretum. And let’s face it-- the Dallas Arboretum isn’t as enjoyable on the weekends when the amount of people inside seems to exceed the number of flowers there. By opening up the Arboretum in the evenings, you'd allow those of us who work 9-5 to experience the beauty of the gardens after work, which is probably when we need it most. Plus, there's a good chance that by allowing garden-goers to visit in the evenings, the Arboretum might be a more pleasant (i.e., less crowded) place on the weekends.
What I’m asking for isn’t outrageous. The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens are open daily from dawn until dusk. If that won’t work, then maybe you could follow the lead of The Dallas Museum of Art? It closes every day at 5, but it stays open on Thursday until 9 pm. Perhaps the Arboretum could remain open one weekday evening a week, just until sundown? Stated differently, maybe you could make your public garden a little more public?
Sincerely,
