Need something to do near your apartment in Elizabeth, NJ? The city’s website is a great place to start looking. We could run through a laundry list of attractions, but that would miss taking the time to uncover a group of underappreciated gems in Elizabeth.
Here’s a simple pleasure that might make a big project. What if you’re committed to visiting one of Elizabeth’s parks every week? That would take almost a year. There are “approximately” 46 of parks in the area. And it might take some planning, if the goal was to see each park in its fullest glory. I’m not just talking about making sure you see the cherry blossoms at Warinanco Park. I’m also thinking of timing it to catch a children’s baseball game at Mattano Park or a chess game at Veteran’s Memorial Waterfront Park. And that’s just a few of the parks, leaving another 40 or so for you to discover.
Parks are often seen as merely pleasant places that we pass through on the way to work or to shopping or dining. But they tell you about the soul of their city. Take the Phil Rizzuto Park, named after the baseball-hall-of-famer who played for the New York Yankees. It’s easy to see the park as a reflection of rabid baseball fans. That may be true, but there’s more to it. It contains a “Boundless Playground,” a 10.4-acre multi-use facility whose aim is to make it possible for children with disabilities to play with other kids.
These sprawls of greenery make people proud to have an apartment in Elizabeth.