More Than a Park
New Orleans City Park was a gateway to building community when Patrick Soliz immigrated to the United States.
Behind This Story | The following story featured in “My Park, My Place, My Peace,” a multimedia series geared at sparking a broader conversation about the history of local parks and recreation, and what it looks like to ensure our public green space serves Black and brown communities well into the future. Want to see more stories like this one? Support Lede New Orleans and its community-centered reporting by becoming a supporting donor.
By Patrick Soliz
City Park is a place that helped me to find myself. It helped me to connect with nature. It helped me to meet with people. It helped me to have a life here in Louisiana.
I remember one fall evening in 2021 I was going to a campfire meeting in City Park with a group called LOOP NOLA. (LOOP NOLA is a group that helps young people like me learn camping skills and do outdoor activities.) My mom had signed my brother and I up for the trip so we could make friends. We came to the U.S. from Bolivia a few weeks before that and I was really shy because I was still learning English.
I remember later that night we were cooking marshmallows and hanging out around the campfire, and a camp mentor tried to talk with me and my brother. We started to sing different rock songs like “We Will Rock You” by Queen and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. I remember feeling really happy because I could connect with a person who didn’t speak my language.
I even learned how to use a bicycle and a skateboard at City Park. I was 18 and with my family at the entrance area of City Park. My brother and I started to learn how to skateboard that day. We fell a lot, but after a couple tries we were able to ride the skateboard. It was really funny.
I go to City Park a lot to spend time with my family getting ice cream, going for walks with our dogs or picnicking. Every time I’m there I think back on those times and I enjoy my time there more because of it. I can see people around me who are happy and grateful for this life. I can see families enjoying their time together.
To me, City Park is more than a park; it’s a place where you can share small moments of your life with people that you love. It’s a place of memories.
Patrick Soliz (he/him) is a filmmaker and a freshman at the University of New Orleans. Soliz was born in Bolivia and immigrated to New Orleans in 2021.
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