Often times what makes a place special is its people, because even a trip to the Super Bowl would be disappointing if the surrounding crowd was miserable. When you factor in the community, there is no better public park than Sedgley Woods in East Fairmount Park. This community, known as Friends of Sedgley Woods, gives me hope in humanity. There, on the edge of a historically impoverished community, you’ll find an island of like-minded individuals who have pulled together to preserve something they value. Since the group’s inception in 1990, the community has changed a drug and prostitute-laden area into an oasis, which is less than three miles outside of Center City. Friends of Sedgley Woods even has a written constitution with a non-profit, self-maintaining philosophy and often reaches out to the community, most recently plating trees in collaboration with the Horticultural Society.

On…