Twenty-somethings probably aren't reviewing neighborhood parks that often, but I come here so often…read morethat I had to! It's a great spot to lay out in the sun, read, and listen to music, in the sun or the shade - just a nice park and great place to spend some time on a nice day at any age. There are always kids playing here: water gun fights, wiffle ball, you name it. There a small water fountain to run through to cool off and a water fountain for drinking out of. If you want to bring food or relax in the shade, there's a picnic table as well as several benches. For a little more exercise (at any age), there's also a playground - a few swings, a slide, etc. - a small basketball court, and a tennis court.

If I hadn't tripped over a stack of boxes yesterday, fallen, fractured my elbow, and not been…read moreallowed to work today because of the intense painkillers I was prescribed, I never would have had the opportunity to spend some time in the sun at Coolidge Park. I live mere blocks away, but for whatever reason, never park-ed it up until today. I decided it was way too early in my recovery process to start complaining and feeling sorry for myself, so I grabbed the blanket I stole from the hospital, a good book, and headed out. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, two men were playing tennis, and several small children were running around the playground. I claimed a spot of land as my own, and read until a man driving the biggest lawnmower I've ever seen came to mow the grass. I wasn't in the mood for another hospital visit to treat the injuries I might have sustained had I continued to lie on the grass unnoticed, so I packed up and headed home. After all, my bank account can only handle so many hospital co-payments.

Massive construction currently here due to construction of the new school and energy generation for…read morethe school. Not a good park for this 2026 summer. Loud noise and little view. Do not come to this park.

Someone (me, on a future visit?) needs to take new pictures, because this playground, as of Fall…read more2016, is BRAND NEW and AWESOME! Gone is the old, faded equipment and in its place are multiple different modern play structures suitable for the whole range of ages, from young toddlers up. The entire park is fenced in and the younger kids play area is separately fenced within it. Only complaint is that I wish the town had sprung for the cushiony rubber surface rather than woodchips under the play equipment.

Lovely green space in Cambridge, Raymond Park is quite large and when we stopped by there was a…read moregood amount of activity with kids playing in the playground and on the paths. The large ballfields were clear today but there's obviously plenty of room for play. Interesting to see a Mom bring her boy over to the tree for a pee. Because that's classy.

Has a big great playground also very big field tons and tons a tons of kids are there definitely a…read moredaily Park Statistics Good for groups - yes Good for kid's - yes Location - north Cambridge

So after reading Stevens review here on Yelp I had to try this park... I went last night (as you…read morecan see from my 392 pics uploaded - sorry I take a lot of pic, Dont Judge me! lol)... I loved that it was gated, Loved the rubber Floor... Loved the little watery thing and the idea that he can make tunnels in the sand at the end to make water flow all through it (even though I have crazy OCD and go nuts when baby gets the slightest bit messy)... Loved the Tree-House Like structures (Yes, I stole Stevens description of them and have actually Googled what they are called to only find "Bases" or "Equipment", Ive been reviewing ALOT of parks lately - I have a toddler. So Im stealing & running with Tree-House Like Structures)... So back from my rant... Loved that there were a few different ones... None too overly Big Kid that I was scared to let my 2 year old freely explore. There could be more benches over by the swings & water thing (that arent picnic tables)... People have come & donated TONS of toys... My son loved one of the cars that was there & rode it around for a while... There were several little Kitchens & Stove Play things in this little hut area that made it the perfect little cover to hang out... There is a Baseball Field ( you cannot access from the Playground) and tons of picnic tables and benches at the front of the park also. The lights in the park even came on as it started to get darker it was soo cool & they were cool OldStyle Lights... The park was wonderful & the reason I cannot give it 5 stars is because there was no Sprinker or Water thingy to play in & get wet for summer time.... Otherwise if I had found this park in the Fall I prolly would have given it 5 stars, but because Water Parks are my main thing right now I have to give it 4... Will be a frequest stop for me... Love the park - Give it a try!

Is it illegal or just creepy for me to review a park and playground, considering I don't have any…read morechildren of my own? Hold on just a minute, someone is knocking at my door. Oh hey, how's it going Chris Hansen? In all seriousness, while babysitting our preschool-aged nieces, my wife and I became very well acquainted with the playground at Hodgkins Park in Davis Square. This review is both an evaluation of the beautiful park and playground, which was recently renovated by the City of Somerville, and a testament to how far playgrounds have come since I was a child. Not being professional parents, we asked ourselves what would one do when their children had enormous energy reserves to burn? Go to the the playground, of course! It just so happened that the City of Somerville had recently revamped Hodgkins Park in Davis Square, so we strolled on down to take a look. As we passed through the front gate, under the steel Hodgkins Park sign, past the exquisitely manicured baseball field, we turned left to enter the gated playground. When I was a child, our playgrounds weren't gated or fenced in. I wouldn't say that we were encouraged to run-off, but with freedom so close, we were tempted. The first thing I noticed was that the pavement was spongy under foot. Can this be, I thought? But it was true...a rubberized surface! Children can repeatedly fall face-first from their scooters without any loss of teeth or IQ points. When I was a kid, we paved our playgrounds with asphalt and cement, and a fall from anything meant butterfly stitches at best. We continued further, and found treehouse-like structures with all sorts of fun accessories. After climbing into the treehouse by ladder or stairs, you could make a fast or slow descent via straight or curvy plastic slides, respectively. Well now smack my butt and call me Susan! If this wasn't the most revolutionary thing in slide technology I have ever witnessed. When I was a child, we had metal slides. Not only did you rocket down these things like a greased pig, always missing the "soft" (i.e. dirt) landing, but they were great conductors of heat. In the summer, the hot metal burned our legs, and in the winter, it stuck to our tongues like super glue. Next, we arrived at the playground's sand box. This wasn't really a box, per se, but rather an exhibit in interactive sand design. There were plastic buckets, shovels, trucks, and numerous other ways to move sand from place to place. This was sand Nirvana, and there was oh so much of it! When I was a child, you had to bring your own toys to the sandbox, and then hope that no one stole them from you. Furthermore, real sand was considered a luxury. If we were lucky, "sand" was delivered once a month. The street sweeper would back up to our playground and empty its contents into our 8' X 8" wood bordered sand box. Oh the fun we had separating the "sand" from cigarette butts and other refuse. Many future recycling and reclamation workers were trained in that sand box. Perhaps this is one instance in which it was better when I was a child...our playgrounds provided career training. Next we moved on to the swings, which were well anchored into the ground, and whose chains didn't pinch young fingers. They seemed perfectly safe, and the girls loved them. The Hodgkins Park Playground has a water feature! I was in awe! Water cascading down metal chutes, inviting children to splash and soak each other in the hot afternoon sun. Again, in my day, we had stagnant mud puddles. We stopped briefly at the merry-go-round. The children sat safely behind bars that held them in place as we spun it faster and faster. When I was little, the bars were meant to be held onto, in order to counter the centrifugal force. If you let go, bones would surely be broken. Last, but not least, the playground has a variation on a jungle gym with monkey bars, which our older niece gleefully enjoyed. She swung back and forth dozens of times, and if she accidentally fell, the surface was as soft and safe as the rest of the park. When I was a child, I specifically recall that our jungle gym was constructed from reclaimed lead pipes. We risked tetanus and heavy metal poisoning every time we climbed upon it. Despite these hazards, we would climb to the top of the jungle gym to look at the curious little score marks in the pipes. You see, it was rumored that one of the older kids, Billy "Screw-Eye", used to hang from the upper rungs by his teeth. I wonder what ever happened to Billy? We left, completely exhausted, after more than an hour of pure, blissful playground fun. The children enjoyed themselves so much, and I was amazed at how far playgrounds have evolved since I was a child. Kudos to Somerville and its workers for providing local children and parents with such a fun, safe place to play. Tremendous design and topnotch construction! Now if you'll excuse me, Chris wants me to take a seat and tell him what's in the paper bag.

Park is great I like it has Gates very secure for the kids it's great Park the only thing is that…read moreis small and it does has a basketball hoop and has toys very unique parking it's a little bit tight it's great if you walk towards the park if you leave nearby but if you not from that area it's a little bit tight to get parking

At first glance, this park seems ordinary. In fact, when we first moved to the area, I rarely took…read moremy daughter there. I figured it couldn't compete with the bigger, flashier, Albion park which is located right in the same neighborhood. Well, yes, Albion does have an amazing splash pad, and a huge piece of land, but because it's so spread out, it's just really not that intimate. Lexington Park on the other hand, is the perfect size. Not so big and spread out that you're constantly chasing your little ones and wearing your feet out, but big enough that the kids get lots of exercise. There are two climbing structures with slides, baby swings,big kid swings, a play house, and a basketball court (often occupied simultaneously by adults shooting hoops and preschoolers on scooters). In the summer, there is a small splash pad which has enough water that the kids LOVE it, but the water isn't very high, so they generally avoid getting soaked (unlike Albion park, where you may as well just go in a bathing suit every time). In addition to the park structures, there are always a bunch of ride-on toys and such that I assume have been donated to the park by parents. This park is awesome for both parents and kids. The sightlines are great for a parent watching more than one child, and the structures aren't overly big. Because the park is sort of divided up into three different sections, the kids have variety and can move from one area to the next to keep it exciting. But the best part of Lexington Park is the feeling of community. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I almost always see at least a couple familiar faces there, and everyone is incredibly friendly. I've had some amazing conversations with other parents there, and my daughter always has a great time with the other kids. So, if you're new to the area, and you spot this park from the bike path, don't discount it like I initially did. Check it out. Especially around 4pm in the summer. Your kids will thank you. And you will probably become a regular.

Conway Park was a lovely little spot in which to eat some wings garnered at WOW Somerville. Ok, I…read moreadmit, it was the closest place we could find to eat. We had the benefit of hearing some drunk/doped up guy verbally abuse his drunk/doped up girl. Way to stimulate the appetite.

Nice little park, not bad for something in a fairly dense urban area. Not exactly insulated from…read morethe bustle, with the busy road on one side and the basketball courts on the other, but it's a relatively relaxing green place to sit (once you find a spot without dog crap or broken glass). But every spring, the cherry blossoms bloom like fireworks, and then it's picnic time. The playground is good, too. Not constantly overrun by kids, and the swings are nice and big.

Oh, Alden Park. This is a special, special place. This is the park also known as "that playground…read morewith the crazy netted climbing thingy across the street from Oxford Spa." Yep. That's the one! That crazy netted climbing structure is the Climbing Web, a place for kids (and big kids like me) to climb around and get lost in the tangles of ropes and knots and rubber platforms. There's also a couple of slides, swings, a fountain, and plenty of other entertaining spaces to frolic in. The park functions as a school recess area for the Baldwin School as well as a community park and playground. It also happens to be of particular sentimental significance to me. This is where me and my honey came to play in the webs and swing on the swings in the middle of the night when we first met. He wasn't yet my honey then, but I like the think the spark was first ignited at Alden Park.

Children from the Baldwin school were playing ball in the circular area and after kicking the ball…read morethree times and grazing the stroller, without a single reaction from either the children or their parents, I stood up from the seat that I thought was designed for parents to sit in and walked down to the circular bit of the playground to ask the children to be careful with the ball. The fourth time, I was hit in the face. Not on the head, not on the leg, in the face. Again, nobody reacted (not an apology, not a single parental intervention to ask the children to apologize, be careful, stop or to ask me how I felt: a dodgeball thrown in your face does hurt quite a bit, I still have a sore lip and a headache). I stood up as I had no idea who was responsible, raised my voice in order to be heard and expressed my irritation and concern for my 5 month old. Still no reaction whatsoever. I saw a father look away and grab his child, so I am guessing, his son threw the ball? Minutes later, the ball came back to the stroller and this time I grabbed it, as I was starting to become really weary of the whole thing: that is, parents not intervening: I don't hold the children responsible, they are just children... Surprisingly, my gesture triggered a reaction from parents who demanded that I give the ball back. More surprising still was the chain reaction this confrontation provoked, by mothers who decided to gang up against me (as it was probably the easier option), rather than teaching their children manners or proper social behavior in what I thought was a public space. Of corse, nobody had seen anything when I reiterated that I was hit in the face. 1) Their first point was that this was the playground of the Baldwin School students, that it was where they played ball after school and it has always been the case. I must have been mistaken when I entered the premises in the first place, thinking it was a common space, open to kids below a certain age and paid for by local taxes. 2) This was followed by a girl telling me: "give me my ball back: it's my property! What would you do if I stole your baby?". Obviously the notion of property, already well-developed by the time children start the Baldwin school is mastered in their teenage years. Although I'm not sure that kidnapping my 5 month old would be charged as lightly as confiscating a used doge ball... 3) When I mentioned in passing that my five year old did not go to the Baldwin school, I was immediately told that I should probably go to the playground near his school, not this one. Another rule I was not aware of. 4) I was told by the cohort of mothers that if I didn't want to get hit by the ball, that I should go sit elsewhere in the playground to avoid the ball. I thought that the metal chairs screwed in the floor of the playground by the city of Cambridge were for the use of parents, grandparents, baby sitters who were keeping an eye on their children, not for decoration. Mine was climbing up the big frame, so I was strategically placed to see him play. 5) In addition, I was told that "instead of doing my knitting" (strangely, she had not seen me get hit by a huge ball but she could see me knit from that distance), I should watch the ball and I would have seen it coming to my face. Unlike parents who bury themselves in their iPhones at the playground (including those who "did not see me" get hit by the ball), I knit (I actually don't own an iPhone, believe it or not), precisely because I can look at my son while knitting. A lot harder to do while texting, going online, doing emails, etc. 6) In the end, I was told that if I wasn't happy with this setting, I should just go elsewhere, but they had nothing to do with it... I love Cambridge: I went to graduate school here, I was married at Cambridge city hall and I really think it is a place that can generate amazing people, scholars, great parents and kind children. Today I was disappointed by what I saw and by what I heard. Hearing a 12 year old invoking property, seeing such entitlement in parents who take it for granted that a public place is theirs and making the rules because they live here or their children go to school here. I thought that community was not just about what you could squeeze out of it, but also primarily about sharing, respecting and giving back. I'm disappointed because everyday, I tell my son to get off his bike when he goes into a playground, never to litter, to play with other children, to apologize if he hurts anyone or even just takes their turn on the slide, even by accident and to respect adults. As a result I sincerely hope that my child will not turn into a bully, a mean girl or a brat who terrorizes other children because they are different, ostracizes those who come from elsewhere or seem marginal and who dictates the rules on campus and in life because they come from wealth and utterly believe the world is their playground.

Cute little urban park at the top of a hill. The park is more geared towards older toddlers and…read morekids though as there are no structures for younger kids to interact with. The bird climbing structure is cute and the log climbing structure is a fun challenge. The only swings they have are the big ones you lay down on though. No bathrooms and not much shade either but if you need a quick stop for the kids to burn off energy, not a bad option.