Sunnyside sees 1st new park in half a decade; experts say green spaces essential for quality of life

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Sunnyside is getting its first new park in 50 years.

The Hill at Sims Park officially opens on Saturday, featuring 100 acres of green space and trails.

But Houston has a history of inequity in its parks.

"I grew up in Sunnyside, which was called Chocolate Bayou when I was a kid," Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said. "The segregated drive-in theatre was Chocolate Drive-In, not far from this park. Chocolate Bayou was not a term of endearment when they did it. The same bayou was called Sims when you got out of that neighborhood."

The park is also designed to reduce flooding.

The centerpiece of the park, a 60-foot hill, is composed of dirt excavated to create a nearby stormwater detention basin.

It's also designed to beautify the area.

"This park is an example of making up for decades of neglect," Commissioner Ellis said. "Not investing in poorer, inner-city neighborhoods."

Rice University's Kinder Institute reports that nearly three out of four Houston residents have a park or green space within a five- to seven-minute walk of their homes.

But when you look at the area closest to where this new park is going up, the numbers show that only half of the residents live within a half-mile of a park or green space.

According to the nonprofit, Trust for Public Land, Houstonians living in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 52% less nearby park space than those in higher-income areas.

ABC13 spoke with those in Sunnyside, who said they wanted to see more safe spaces.

"In the younger generation right now, there are a lot of recluses," Clinton Johns III said. "It's our moral and social obligation and duty to reach out to them."

"There's a lot of stigma about us just being outside," James Glover said. "It gets stressful sometimes, and we just want peace like everyone else."

The park costs nearly $30 million, of which $22 million came from Precinct 1.

The rest came from the Houston Parks Board, state and federal funding, and the nonprofit Brown Foundation.

"Community is important. There are a lot of divides, a lot of separation," Johns said.