Pondhawk Natural Area as a Commons for Boca
I feel very lucky to live immediately next to the Pondhawk Natural Area , maintained by Palm Beach County Environmental Resource Management. It will be the subject of many of my posts. Usually we think of cities as where nature is not, and of nature as where cities are not. But this doesn't necessarily have to be the case. Some of the best areas of cities are where natural areas are integrated within the city. The Pondhawk Natural Area is the best case I can think of this locally. There are seamless connections between the Spanish River Library and the natural area, and between the Centra housing complex and the natural area. I can't think of another major natural area like this in south Florida, though I am sure there must be some. Having a natural area integrated into the city fabric gives people excellent access to the benefits of nature. It helps educate people about the nature around them so they can be more sensitive to their impact upon it. I don't know why we d