Maxwell Webster started his tenure as New Haven Parks Director in November 2024.
Reimagining New Haven’s Parks
As the new head of parks in New Haven, Maxwell Webster ’17 MEM hopes to reinvent the way we think of and manage urban parks.
“There’s a lot to figure out, but by being focused on understanding how our parks provide services to people and what we want those services to be, I hope the city can be an example of resetting a parks department.”
Parks have always played a prominent role in Maxwell Webster’s life. As a child, parks were the backdrop for his adventures.
As an adult working in urban green spaces, he discovered the work of Professor Bill Burch, which drew him to YSE, where he learned about community-based natural resource management. After graduating from YSE, Webster led forest conservation efforts in Washington state, managed natural areas for the Chicago Park District, and now is back in New Haven as the director of New Haven Parks — a position he began in November 2024. We spoke with Webster about his plans to enhance these vital community spaces.
Q. You’re back in New Haven! Why did you want to take on this role?
As a student at YSE, I had the opportunity to work with the Urban Resources Initiative. I got a firsthand look at the commitment people in New Haven have to work for a better city and how much they care about their parks and green spaces. It’s a special thing to be a part of, and now, to be in a position where I can build on that really drew me to the role.
Q. What are some of the parks department’s biggest challenges, and what solutions are being explored to address these challenges?
In many ways, the city is starting a parks department from scratch again, and I’m trying to think about how we can make it a public agency responsive to all the different things that folks want to see coming from urban city parks.
The basic model of how parks in small cities like New Haven work hasn’t been examined in a long time. For instance, parks are where we have some natural space, where we provide recreation opportunities and some programming. How are we using park spaces for all those traditional uses, but how are we now using park spaces for climate resilience and green infrastructure? How are we considering using our resources to provide social services and benefits for folks needing them? How are we considering using our park spaces as productive spaces for food production? I’m trying to bring those considerations into conversations about how we manage parks in New Haven. There’s a lot to figure out, but by being focused on understanding how our parks provide services to people and what we want those services to be, I hope the city can be an example of resetting a parks department.
Q. Do you have a favorite park memory you can share?
I didn’t grow up in a situation where we traveled or did many extracurricular activities. I lived within my small, little, tiny community, but we had parks. Parks were where my friends and I would meet every weekend to play pickup football, and my brother and I would run around the ruins of this old family estate and create an imaginary world for ourselves where we could be anything. Those are the things that stand out to me as positive memories in parks, and I’m focused on providing those kinds of opportunities for people here in New Haven.
