Parks and Rec walks us through Roslindale's proposed new playground

1) The water feature dovetails nicely with the pool, so hopefully aquatic maintenance is available for the area. My thought all along was that if any park gets a water feature, it should be at Healy Field.
2) I cannot figure the sizes out, but good call. Short slides are boring.
3) As a parent, I can't stand sandboxes. The sand ends up everywhere, and besides, who knows what a wayward cat might do.
4) I agree entirely. Swings are awesome. They are fun for all ages.

That said, the playground there is lacking. The pity is that it was my playground as a kid.

Closed community? There have been multiple advertised public meetings, online feedback solicited, 311, contacts to city councilors or officials, or really any means by which to provide input outside of posting here if you want to.

Are you sure you're thinking of Healy Field? The current playground there does not have a big slide, sandbox, or swings. In fact, everyone who I have ever spoken to about that playground thinks the structures there are pretty lame and are really eager to see them replaced. Maybe you're thinking of Fallon Field, which does have all of those features; after its renovation it will have a much bigger slide and will still have swings (the sandbox will be going away, however).

I personally would have loved to have seen swings included at Healy, but the site is pretty small and swings have a really, really big safety radius. There are certainly other improvements I'd like to see, some of them along the same lines that you suggested, but I think there's a bit more to this design than you might realize just from the fly-by video. You can read my take on the design here.

As for this:

Don't have Facebook so like RVMS, this is a closed community thing I guess.

You're hitting me pretty hard here, since I make no secret of my involvement in both RVMS and Roslindale Wants to Play (although I have much more say over how the latter uses social media than the former). There were three public meetings to discuss this design, but the turnout was not that great. If there were a more universal social media platform than our combination of a web site (which does allow interested readers to subscribe) and a Facebook group that we could manage just on our volunteer time, we would certainly look into using it. We did our best at getting the word out - beyond Facebook and our web site, there were flyers available at the community centers, mentions in the weekly RVMS newsletter, and articles in the Transcript, along with whatever outreach the Parks Department did. I do really wish that more people had made it to the meetings, though - they're always much, much better when more people do.

I believe that one tree is being removed and two are being added. A lot of the other vegetation is lost to safety surfacing, which is non-negotiable part of playground designs these days. There was some concern about the large asphalt area in the middle of the playground, but the designers were unsure whether a natural surface would hold up to wear and tear well enough. I'm curious about what other aspects of the design are not "what most users want & like," though. Not everything in this design received a completely enthusiastic response at the public meetings, but I don't think the general attitude was that the design was completely off-base in the way that you imply.

Yup! I go out of my way to find playgrounds with a water feature because my kid is nuts about playing with water.

I think one of the interesting things is the brush in the back. Were that cut down, there would be a lot more space, but I also think some of the neighbors might have started to use the land upslope.

Interesting fact- it was the first place Sacred Heart Church held masses. It was owned by the Archdiocese for a long time before the city got the land.

We have talked to the Parks Department about Poplar Street Play Area several times, but unfortunately there are no plans to develop the lot. The big concerns from the Parks Department are cost and access - they have apparently looked at the site and determined that developing it in a way that meets accessibility guidelines would be prohibitively expensive. We had high hopes for that lot, because the 2008-2014 open space plan included the following paragraph:

The Department’s inventory includes an undeveloped parcel known as the Poplar Street Play Area. It is located in a well-developed residential area south of Roslindale Village that is underserved by play lots. A portion of the property along its street frontage may be amenable to play lot development. Depending on neighborhood interest, site feasibility, and budgetary considerations, this site may help address this sub-neighborhood’s childhood recreation needs.