I can tell you the exact day that I first heard the term linear park: February 24, 1996. That weekend the San Antonio chapter of the American Institute of Architects hosted an environmental design charette at the KLRN studios.

A charette is an intensive design session of limited duration, taken from en charrette, a French term referring to the Ecole de Beaux Arts, where at the deadline of a design problem, a cart (the charrette) would roll down the studios to pick up the student's renderings. Time would eventually run out and students would be drawing on the carts as they moved, en charrette, taking every last minute to finish their work.

This charette started months earlier, when architects, environmentalists, city officials, neighbors and business owners met to brainstorm about neighborhoods that could be ecologically responsible, a joy to live in and conducive to business.

As I slapped the emerging designs into my scanner I was captivated by the linear parks: skinny little strips along the creeks that could act as a catalyst for the revival of entire neighborhoods.

The concept was familiar, if not the term. The Delaware River Canal, where I learned to canoe, is a linear park. All along Lake Michigan in Chicago: linear park. The River Walk: that's a linear park, too.

Linear parks are usually developed around a natural resource such as a creek, river or lakeshore. They preserve valuable open space and natural habitat, provide a natural environment for walking, jogging, biking and socializing, and link neighborhoods to parks, schools and shopping areas. Because they are often in flood plains, the land can be bought relatively cheaply.

On May 7, citizens of San Antonio will vote on Proposition 2, which would continue a 1/8 cent sales tax to raise $45 million to purchase land and develop linear parks along Leon Creek, Salado Creek, the Medina River and the San Antonio River. The tax, likely to be levied for about nine years, would be shared with Proposition 1, which would raise money to purchase ecologically sensitive land and easements over the Edwards Aquifer. The funds would be added to the $20 million raised by a similar tax approved in 2000.

I reviewed my notes on the East charette, which addressed a portion of Salado Creek as it winds through a largely residential area of the far East Side.

"The site lies at the crossroads of several biological regions including the Blackland Prairies, South Texas Plains and the Edwards Plateau. The natural resources of each biological region intermingle here creating a truly unique ecological community," the report said. Deer, elk, kingfishers, hawks, owls, ducks, crayfish and turtles were observed during site visits.

Today, it's hard for people get from their neighborhoods to the creek. When no one can get there, it deteriorates: a dumping ground, a crime area, an eyesore. The creek was used as a landfill for houses demolished to make way for HemisFair in 1968. Despite the ravages of the human village, the creek survives and can be revived to become the centerpiece of the communities it nurtures.

Advocates of Proposition 2 are calling the project "pennies for parks," and I checked their math.

In 2004 the IRS allowed itemized deductions for state sales tax and provided handy tables that taxpayers could use instead of toting up a gazillion receipts. I extrapolated the data for a family of four making between $30-40,000 a year and came up with $7.40 a year as the estimated cost of a 1/8 cent sales tax hike. People with more disposable income to spend on taxable goodies will pay more: a single person making between $100-120,000 will shell out about $160 a year for the linear parks project.

Pennies for some, dollars for others, but a bargain nonetheless.

Only about half of the $20 million raised by the 2000 initiative has been spent so far, which has given some voters pause. Why ask for more when you haven't managed to spend what you already have?

Keep in mind, however, that the money tricked in over more than four years and the city gave priority to buying land over the aquifer. This is a instance where slow and steady will win the race.

Linear parks are brilliant and the time to build them is now, while land is still affordable and the creeks and rivers still salvageable. Proposition 2 is good for San Antonio.

Susan Ives can be reached at suives@texas.net.