Stephens Lake Park is located in Columbia, Missouri and has an extensive history that dates back to the 1800s. The Hinkson Creek that runs along the eastern edge of Stephens Lake Park was home to the first few settlers of Columbia. The settler’s houses were built along this creek near the park, as well as in the downtown area of Columbia. In 2001 the City of Columbia purchased the property and the city immediately granted public access to the land and declared it as a park.
To the northern edge of Stephens Lake Park is a small affordable neighborhood. The neighborhood has very easy access to the park and can walk or drive to one of the seven different entrances that are located northern side of the park. The only separation between the neighborhood and the park is a road that does not ever have heavy traffic. The Hinkson Creek runs along the entirety of the eastern edge of the park, which makes the park inaccessible from that side. There is a shopping center called Broadway Marketplace that is located right to the east of the park, but the easiest way to access the park from the shopping center would be to drive. In “The City Image and its Elements,” Kevin Lynch’s definition of an edge as a “boundary between two kinds of areas” could fit Hinkson Creek, seeing as it is a physical boundary that separates Stephens Lake Park from Broadway Marketplace. Broadway is a main road of Columbia that goes along the southern side of the park and connects to an entrance into the park. The park can be seen as Broadway also leads straight to the Columbia’s downtown. The downtown area located to the east of Stephen’s Lake Park, and while the park is not in the downtown area, it is situated right outside of it.
Stephens Lake Park is open to the entire public and it is also widely used by the citizens of Columbia. The park has no security, nor does it prevent or limit people from accessing it. Jan Gehl discusses in “Three Types of Outdoor Activities” that different types of outdoor activities are dependent on the quality of the physical environment. He explains that an optional activity is the type of activity that requires the highest quality of physical environment. During the daytime, specifically over the summer, people can be seen occupying the park through a myriad of optional activities such as taking walks, having picnics, or going fishing in the lake.