Salem Common

Your experience at this park will definitely depend on what you are looking for. There are a couple benches, trees around the perimeter, and wide open spaces in the middle. There is a gazebo, a basketball court, and a small playground.
Wide open spaces are great for a day in the sun without the sand (Just don’t wear a bathing suit unless you want really strange looks: D) They are better though for an impromptu game of soccer, or to play with your dog.
This place is also lovely for riding a bicycle. You can ride in a circle without many people that walk like they don’t care or want to be run over. You don’t even have to bring your own! Ask at the Hawthorne hotel next door about the Salem Spins programs, where you can rent a bike and helmet for free during the summer! (as long as it is returned by dusk).
Despite this, I long for more shaded areas, more trees, and more spaces to rest in the shade without being on a bench in the perimeter. Sometimes you want to lay on the grass, or sit in a foldaway chair and read, or listen to music without an amount of sun fit for a beach.
Park is also well kept, aside from the fence and archway (which looks like it is about to fall).

It is a very nice park for the heart of Salem. It is clean, and they are redoing the fence around the perimeter.

While Salem Common is nowhere near as big as its cousin, Boston Common, this is a nice park in the heart of a very hip town. For my California readers, Salem is kind of like Berkely, only a lot cleaner and flatter. It is funky and fun with people from all walks of life enjoying the city.
The Common has a very nice playground for the kids. There were a lot of families there the day we came. For the parents, there are places to sit in the sun or shade.
I am sure there are some great concerts and events in the Common every summer. I would love to see more parks like this in Orange County.

While parks typically get added D-​love for being as pristine as possible, the lack of decorative perimeter fencing, seasonal fauna (save a few leafy trees) or other terrain upgrades make this plot a basic swath of open land.
Thanks, oh mighty gazebo, for trying to spice things up, but this Common is just too, well, common.