Stephen Montoya
A space created for the enjoyment of nature just a stone’s throw from where Pearl Jam played Fort Worth last year, is being considered one of the most peaceful places in the Lone Star State.
The Fort Worth Japanese Garden is actually not just considered one of the quietist spots in Texas but in the U.S., according to study recently conducted by Earth.fm.
Earth.fm is a non-profit, free repository of over 800 natural soundscapes that come from all over the world. Just imagine an app with nature sounds you can listen to whenever you want. And if you get homesick for Cowtown, you can always hear what the Japanese Garden sounds like at least.
This finding, although very intriguing, is being looked at by the World Health Organization as encouraging in a world where noise pollution can pose an “underestimated threat,” according to a study the organization did on noise in 2010.
Some take-aways from this study point to the fact that noise can impair early childhood development and education as well as cause lifelong effects on academic achievement and health. Earth.fm, whose motto is “wind is the original radio,” compiled this list of quiet spaces using Census data to rank cities by noise level. We might be the nation’s thirteenth largest city, but we rank 27th in the noisiest city’s category. Thank goodness we have a tranquil space.
Earth.fm defined excessive noise as anything above 65 decibels, which takes into account everything from city traffic volumes to household items like washing machines and lawn mowers. Earth.fm then developed a list of 3,000 parks, nature preserves, and gardens across 245 cities worldwide, giving each park a quiet score based on online reviews, visitor ratings, and popularity. Our Japanese Garden earned a score of 8.7 based on these criteria making it the seventh-quietist spot in the nation behind such cities as Phoenix, and Seattle.
Completed in 1973, the Japanese Garden rests on over 7 acres of lush land that hosts bamboo and cherry trees along with a system of ponds, surrounded by hills and enclosed by a network of interconnected paths, pavilions, bridges, and decks. As the name implies, the garden unfolds as an ever-changing series of landscape perspectives to visitors who stroll along those thoroughfares.
The garden itself was built in the tradition of Edo period stroll gardens, which integrates several Japanese styles of garden design into a single landscape. Examples of this include the hill and pond, dry landscape, tea garden and several enclosed gardens. Later editions included the Suzuki Garden, the Moriarty Garden, the Koshi House, the deck treasure tree gift shop, and boardwalk. And although there are several indigenous plants to Fort Worth found in the garden, many of the plants and the architectural design where in fact a gift from our sister city Nagaoka, Japan.
Attached to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, this accolade comes a month after Southern Living Magazine named the Botanic Garden as one of the South’s most beautiful gardens, which was the only one named from Texas.
“Opportunities to connect with nature and find quiet — away from traffic noise, pneumatic drills, and the general city buzz — are so important for our mental wellbeing,” Catalin Zorzini, founder of Earth.fm, said in a statement. “We could say it’s also crucial for the wellbeing of our planet, which is suffering mostly because we have grown so disconnected from it.”
