Monthly Update: March 2025
Save the Sound staffers hike the Oswegatchie Preserve in East Lyme, CT.
Nature Makes Us Healthy

You probably already know this intuitively: natural spaces are good for our mental and physical health. Spending time in nature leads to lower blood pressure, heart rate, and physiological stress, and lowers stress hormones. Nature boosts your immune system, too. 

This health-based argument is often cited as a reason to support public parks, especially in neighborhoods like southern Hamden, where open space is limited. But you might be wondering what the actual research says. So, here are a few facts about human health and parks—plus some links you can click to learn more. 

  • Outdoor exercise may promote better social interactions and make people more likely to exercise in the future.  
  • The color green causes a “green exercise effect” leading to more positive exercise outcomes.
  • Exposure to green space is linked to less stress in “deprived communities.”
  • Asthma is less prevalent in children who live on streets with more trees.
  • Kids with ADHD have been found to concentrate better after a walk in a park.
  • Students at high schools with views of more trees and shrubs have higher test scores and graduation rates. 

These are just a few of the countless studies that have linked better health outcomes to spending time outdoors. As spring arrives and we all spend more time in the natural world, we hope this information gives you an extra boost of confidence that spending time in nature is good for you—mind, body, and spirit!
Brick Yard Point

Brick Yard Point is Open to Visitors!

Six Lakes isn't the only former industrial site in the New Haven Area. Brick Yard Point in North Haven is a 57-acre open space with meadows and wetlands that was once a brick yard, and then an industrial site, leading to land and ground water contamination. After years of remediation, it now offers limited public access, offering a glimpse of what the future could hold for Six Lakes.

Brick Yard Point will be open to the public for self-guided trail walks one Saturday per month from April through October. You can register for a two-hour appointment to walk the trails and view the restored habitat. Sign up through their website: www.BrickYardPoint.org. 
Upcoming Events

There are two upcoming opportunities to get involved in the Six Lakes neighborhood! Join us for an Earth Day perimeter trash cleanup on April 27th, and meet our friends at Eli's Garden of Healing at their fair and celebration on May 3rd. See below for more information on both events.
Participants at our last Six Lakes perimeter cleanup in October, 2024

Sign up for the Earth Day Perimeter Cleanup

We'll be hosting another Six Lakes perimeter trash cleanup as part of Hamden Earth Week! Sign up through Save the Sound's Earth Day cleanup events page, and select Six Lakes Perimeter, Hamden. 

Date: Sunday, April 27 

Time: 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
RSVP

Eli's Garden of Healing Fair & Celebration

Eli’s Garden is restoring another piece of property formerly owned by Olin. The healing garden will honor the memory of Elijah Gomez, a Hamden High Schooler who was killed on the Farmington Canal Trail in 2022. The land being restored now belongs to the Town of Hamden and is located just across Leeder Hill Road from Six Lakes. Join Eli's Garden for a celebration of what would have been Elijah's 18th birthday.

Date: Saturday, May 3 

Time: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Place: DeNicola Park
Learn More
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Six Lakes Park Coalition
sixlakespark.org