Let’s expand our parks and green spaces

Dear Editor:

As Purcellville has grown, we have added the necessary infrastructure so our citizens can lead healthy, safe, and rewarding lives.

In the time since my family moved to Purcellville, in 2002, I’ve seen the construction of three new schools, three new shopping centers, hundreds of new houses, a new road, among many other things added to Purcellville and its environs.

Many of these new structures and pieces of infrastructure were, and are, both useful and necessary. But what happened to the town’s natural infrastructure during this time? These green and brown tunnels and easements that deliver our existence from mere toleration to joyful satisfaction. And what about the gross domestic product of our flora and fauna during this time?

Were these creatures—motivated by the same sacred urge as we—to live, to breathe, to “make of our lives a miracle”– able to continue at their healthful clip? I don’t have all of the answers to the questions I ask, but I have a hunch.

I haven’t seen a parallel explosion of public parks or preserved green spaces. True, we are lucky to have the Suzanne R. Kane Nature Preserve, the Chapman-DeMary Trail, and the recently preserved Aberdeen property. But, in my view, the preservation of natural space has not kept pace with the suburban growth overtaking this area.

I would encourage the town council to prioritize our area’s ecological and aesthetic integrity. No decision is too small to discount the need for a careful consideration of the environmental impact.

An old book says that humankind does not live by bread alone. We truly have deep emotional needs, and careful urban planning, park creation, and natural-space preservation, are all simply components of habitat restoration for humans (otherwise known as urban planning).

Purcellville is a wonderful place to live, and its growth is easy to understand, but to truly preserve this place—the Purcellville that we know and love –—we must undertake decisive action to set aside the natural spaces such as forests, streams, meadows, that create the Purcellville we know and love.

Adam Stevenson

Purcellville