Old Mill Park Field Notes
Date: February 19, 2017
Time: 8:59am
Weather: Partly Cloudy 39 degrees
My first observation is the abundance of green space in the park. In comparison to City Dock, this park is much more developed and open for more uses. There are also an overall larger number of people who visit and interact with this park. There is a playground, and a large field. There is also a medium sized parking lot. There is also a bathroom available.
Upon arrival, there is a large group walking towards the flag post convening together. It is later determined that the group are training to become surveyors. The group was of about 31 people, with different genders ad race, and seem to be in the same age range. I will base the following observational analysis upon gender, race, and age of the visitors of the park. As a precaution, this analysis is based off personal perception of appearance and not factual demographics.
Gender
Overall, with the group of surveyors males made up majority of the park. Since, they were probably occasional visitors, I am not going to include the group in the rest of the analysis of gender. First , there seem to have been a larger female occupancy in comparison to males actually using the park. The male population was predominantly in their cars or passing through. The female visitors were walking, taking children to the parks, or using the bathroom.There may be some correlation with the times of the day where the female population visits the park versus the males. This theory would need to be studied more thoroughly and different than other parks.
Race
The majority of the occupants of the park were white, and there were two Asian: appearing and two Blacks. Within the group of surveyors, there were a larger group of races that could not be identified or numbered. There isn’t a lot of information about race to make a substantial analysis. Although, I think on more trips to Old Mill Park, there could be a clear distinction in what races use the park.
Age
From my observations, the majority of the people using the park were middle aged or small children. The small aged children were brought there by the older parents. This could also be an observation for the time of the day. Since it was morning on a school day, it would make sense as to why school aged children weren’t there. Is this a park that teenagers would use? Maybe. I imagine the large field being popular for football or soccer game. Overall, I would say this is a part that is welcoming to all ages, and could see a wide range of people during a weekend or an afternoon.