FMC Moody Park

This is my neighborhood park, it’s big, it’s roomy, I’ll walk around the loop daily in the winter with the dogs, it’s more than a mile so it gets my blood going and chases away the winter blues.
A midday walk is great, but one time I was scouring the park at midnight looking for my beloved #MrCups and there were 11 peeps sleeping in the park.
And some other weird shenanigans going on.
So 5 stars for midday well lit adventures, 1 star for after dark. It’s still an adventure though.

Facilities-​wise Moody Park is one of the best you will find inside the loop, and probably the best within 5 miles of downtown. Really it could be better than Memorial. It’s big, it’s integrated into a community, it has scenic views, multipurpose trails, a new community center, modern playgrounds, a pool, sporting fields WITH WATER FOUNTAINS! (in fact I have not seen a park anywhere in Houston with so many thoughtfully placed water fountains!)
BUT
The Houston Parks and Planning departments should be ashamed of how completely inaccessible and poorly maintained the park is:
1) parking is only accessible from southbound Fulton; there are no left turns available to get to a lot. There was even a new intersection built crossing Fulton, but no tie in to the park!
2) the Metro station is a block past the most northern section (At the main parking lot!) of the park. There was a perfect opportunity to centrally locate this station for priority access by foot
3) there are only two pedestrian crossings from the east side of Fulton along the full length of the park (at the southern-​most end and just south of the Metro station)
4) the playgrounds are covered in offensive graffiti
5) the entire park has a stench, probably due to the trash-​filled bayou
The neighborhoods who Moody Park should service should be offended by the lack of urban planning, and frankly segregation reinforced by traffic division as this could be a jewel of a park. it just feels more like an excuse by local politicians to say «Look, we invested millions on a park and community center here, but nobody uses it. So what is the point in continuing to fund projects here?»
There will always be challenges when building city infrastructure next door to subsidized housing projects and rampant homelessness, but the best way to assure their failure is to make them inaccessible from the start. No, I have no idea what the park is like at night.

Moody park can seem a little suspect, I’ve only been here to play softball and basketball so I can’t speak on the trails or pool. However their softball fields are great! They really manage them well and keep them good for use. I play almost every weekend with my family and the crowd that is there are friendly families as well.
I haven’t played on the basketball court more than once, but it’s like any other court. It does get crowded later in the day and can be somewhat shady or considered «dangerous» so be careful. Oh! I almost forgot, their tennis courts aren’t nothing special, but at least they have some!

With the lightrail being extended towards the eastside it has expanded my search area. After having dinner near by we decided to park and take a stroll. This place is huge! There are plenty of walking trails, some kids even ride their bikes on the trail. The paths are wide so room for everyone to share.
There are lots of soccer fields, well kept and used. Playground equipment for the kids. Along with soccer there are baseball fields along with tennis courts, and a pool.
This area is not ghetto at all and there are even kids outside playing basketball.
This neighborhood has the right mentality, get your kids outside instead of inside playing video games and watching tv.

I like Moody Park & can’t believe it hasn’t been reviewed yet. Unlike some other parks in the area (*cough* Memorial *cough*), I don’t feel the need to get all dressed up just to break a sweat.
The park is huge, complete with mile markers. Although I admit, there is room for improvement. Just wait a few years from now… once the rail extension is completed, this area is going to blow up because the Main lightrail is going to shoot strait up Fulton.