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Lafferty and Lucchessi from the air:
A comparison
By Bruce Hagen, July 19, 2002
NOTE: The violet caption
above
reads, "Handicapped access trail
to valley overlook point"
These two photos were gathered
from www.mapquest.com. They are both at the same
magnification, and thus represent an accurate comparison
of the properties. When you compare on a strictly
acre for acre basis:
- Lafferty Park is
nearly ten times the size of Luchessi Park, which
is the City's largest improved park.
- If you placed the
Lafferty gate at the western corner of Lucchessi,
Lafferty's eastern (ridgetop) boundary would
reach all the way to Prince Park.
- Lafferty's lower
meadows, ranging from level to gently rolling
slopes, are at least equal in acreage to the 20
acres of turf at Lucchessi. Much of it is ideal
for informal picnicing (of the blanket and basket
variety.)
- The park plan
includes a half-mile handicapped accessible trail
from the parking lot, around a marsh and pond,
along an oak woodland, past the stone corral of
the old Marshall Lafferty homestead, out to a
point with a sweeping view of the Petaluma Valley
and the North Bay.
- The majority of the
acreage at Lafferty is gently sloped enough that
trails could go straight up the slope. With the
exception of the escarpment at places along Adobe
Creek, there are no areas that are too steep to
be traversed by simple switchback trails.
- The upper third of
Lafferty is a series of broad terraces stepping
up to the top of the park, from which you can see
from the Pacific to the Santa Clara Valley to Mt
Diablo. People from ages 8 to 80 have had no
trouble making it to the top, even with the
presently unfinished trails.
What you can begin to see
from these photos (and what would be confirmed by a visit
to Lafferty Park) is that Lafferty is not, as a recent
letter to the editor stated, a place that will serve
"only a few wilderness hikers." Anyone who
makes statements like these has either not been to
Lafferty or is part of the disinformation campaign of
Lafferty Park opponents.
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