Delaney Park Strip

Ah, the «park strip». (say Delaney and you are sure to get that cock-​headed «are you a tourist» look)
This used to be an actual «landing strip» (for planes, perv) in the early days of Anchorage town.
Now it’s a healthy road of green, running along the south side of down town.
Great place to lay with your lovah, do some yoga/​kung-​fu/​soccer/​slack-​lining, or get a famous 49^th-​state-​tan.
Lots of events go down here in the summer, it’s a great re-​appropriation. More old airports should be turned into green spaces. Let’s start with the abomination known as MCI!

My rental overlooks this park, so I tend to myself here frequently. It’s a nice outdoor spot. Not a whole lot to it. Lots of grass primarily. And then there’s some basketball courts and whatnot too towards the end. It’s a pleasant spot to throw around a frisbee, hang out with the dog, bask in the midnight sun, etc. All in all, a decent urban oasis.

This grass strip of parkland abutting downtown Anchorage is about eleven blocks long and one block wide. Why that particular shape? Because it used to be an airstrip. That’s also why it’s called Delaney Park STRIP. James Delany used to be mayor of Anchorage — that’s why it’s called DELANEY Park Strip.
In 1929 James Delaney was elected to the first of three consecutive terms as Mayor of Anchorage (1929 to 1932). Born in Ireland in 1989, he came to Anchorage in 1911 to work on the Alaska Railroad. That is why there is a LOCOMOTIVE in Delaney Park Strip. Locomotive #556 was a gift to the City of Anchorage from the Alaska Railroad celebrating Alaska’s statehood in 1959. After you finish your boring crap in downtown Anchorage, take your kids to see the locomotive as there are not too many around nowadays and you can have fun crawling over it. If you don’t have kids, that can be arranged.

Delaney Park, more commonly known by locals as simply the «Park Strip,» was the very first park in Anchorage, created in 1917. During the 1920s it served as an airstrip and today serves as a community greenspace. The park is 13 blocks long, running between 9^th and 10^th avenue and hosts various events throughout the year. There are several public-​use athletic areas, including tennis courts, volleyball courts, softball fields, and even horseshoe pits. On a warm, sunny day you’ll see lots of Alaskans sunning themselves on the grass, even if it is only 60 degrees :)