Accessible Playdates/ Accessible Playground

We just got back from a "playdate for children of all abilities" at Southside park. The accessible playground was really neat, and while the majority of kids around did not have special needs I assume there is an expectation that they may encounter those who do, so it is a really comfortable environment. The city puts on the accessible playdates, which is awesome of them, and another group has regular playdates there as well. I think we wandered into the other playdate and played with their stuff, but that didn't seem to be a problem for anybody. I was really thinking about the wheelchair-accessible play structure and the wheelchair-accessible play surface (no bark or wood chips, but soft, smooth, rubbery material under the equipment). I know it is more expensive to make parks like these, and that most schools (including the County Office of Ed's special needs school!) cannot afford that smooth wheelchair accessible material for their playgrounds. It's great that there is a place that kids with these needs can go. It's not great that this is the ONLY place that they can play alongside their typically developing peers in this way. This playground is wonderful and we had a great time today. Wouldn't it be great if all our parks and schools had play equipment EVERYBODY could enjoy? And if every playground was a place where people expected to encounter all sorts of kids, and to include them and play with them?
Nathan and I go to the parks by our house a lot, and I do not mean to imply that we feel excluded there. We have almost exclusively encountered friendly and accepting people in our neighborhood and places we go. Nathan doesn't know he has a disability anyway and kids just usually think he is younger than he is. I can connect with parents of typical kids on many levels (many aspects of parenting a child with special needs are, well, parenting, and of course we could talk about other stuff).
Of course, Nathan doesn't use a wheelchair and isn't terribly interested in play structures anyway. We went to the inclusive playdate today for the activities and to meet people. We did meet another little guy with DS and his grandparents, as well as a number of other kids and families. There is always something nice in connecting with other parents who are on a similar path. So I guess that is the real positive piece about coming together in one place.