Signs reading "No adults unless accompanied by a child" accompany two lanes of slippery downhill slides tucked away in a residential neighborhood park.
Built in the 1960s and designed by a local teenager, the slides are actually a triumph of neighborhood activism. In 1963, the land that the Corwin Community Garden and Seward Mini-Park sits on was a vacant lot slated for development. Local residents and growing families from nearby streets organized and protested the disappearance of open space, and fought development for a decade, including staging a desperate bulldozer defying sit in in 1966.
In the end, the locals triumphed, and turned the lot into a park which opened in 1973. Their efforts also contributed to changing city legislation now requiring a minimum amount of open space in new development projects.
The slides are surrounded by a small park and California native plant garden, and are only open Mon-Sun 9 am - 5 pm, after which they are closed to the public.