Park Board Packet 2004 07-26-04f
Yorkville Parks & Recreation Department Board Meeting
Park And Recreation Administrative Offices
RIVERFRONT BUILDING
301 E. HYDRAULIC STREET Yorkville, IL 60560/ 630.553.4341
AGENDA
July 26, 2004
Call to Order:
Roll Call: Chris Rollins, Ken Koch, Van Truman, Heather Fiala, Richard Korinek, Tammy
Smock, Bob Pilmer, School District Liason, Alderman Paul James
Introduction of Guests and/or City Officials, Staff
Park and Recreation Director—Laura Brown
Park Foreman— Scott Sleezer
City Land Planner—Mike Schoppe
Public Comments:
Approval of Minutes:
Minutes of June 28, 2004
No meeting on July 12, 2004
Bills Review:
Cash Analysis
Bill List
Developers Presentation
Swanson Lane Estates
Evergreen Farms
Reports
Recreation Report—receive as information
Update on Concession Stand operation—receive as information
School use summary report
Old Business:
Park Naming—Rice Park (Rivers Edge)
New Business:
Park Board Member appointment
Recap of the Park Tours and projected development schedule for the Parks Master Plan
Update
Additional Business:
Correspondence:
Miscellaneous press release
Adjournment
Yorkville Parks &Recreation Dept.
Kylyns Ridge Cannonball Town Meeting
June 28,2004
MINUTES
Call to Order—
Laura Brown call the Town Meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
Guests/City Officials/Staff-
Laura Brown,Executive Director
Scott Sleezer,Parks Foreman
Van Truman,Park Board Member
Barb Reisinger,Recreation Admin.Assist.
Mike Schoppe, Schoppe Design
Chris Funkhouser, Schoppe Design
18 Residents—Kylyns Ridge Park
Kylyns Ridge Concept Park Design Presentation and Public Comment-
Brown started the meeting by showing the concept plans for Kylyns Ridge Park design,phase Ito the
residents. Chris Funkhouser of Schoppe Designs explained the phase I concept A& B drawings with two
different themes, a Civil War concept or a Pirates concept,that the residents could choose from.
Funkhouser said there are no definite plans at this time for phase II of the concept drawings,just the
possibility of what the park could add on in the future.
Residents expressed that they already have a soccer field, and that they are worried about future use and
parking in the area. Brown said the intent for the park is for neighborhood use;that age appropriate
equipment will be incorporated for all ages to use, and that picnic tables with shelter and benches will also
be included. Residents responded that they would like to see more than two benches, and the residents
would like the addition of a drinking fountain if possible. Some residents also said they would like a full
court basketball instead of half courts. Residents inquired how quickly the plans would be implemented.
Brown responded,weather permitting,before next May she would like to see the park developed. Brown
stated the city has a timetable and needs to proceed as quickly as possible, but the developer still owns the
property.
Brown then asked for a show of hands for each concept plan. Concept Park Plan A,the Civil War theme
was chosen unanimously. Brown thanked all the residents for coming and for all their ideas and input.
She asked the residents please contact her if they had any further questions or ideas.
The meeting ended at 6:50 p.m.
Yorkville Parks&Recreation Dept.
Board Meeting
June 28,2004
MINUTES
Call to Order—
President Rollins call the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m.
Roll Call—
Chris Rollins,Van Truman, Ken Koch,Bob Pilmer, School District Liason, Richard Korinek,Alderman
Paul James
Absent: Heather Fiala
Guests/City Officials/Staff—
Laura Brown,Executive Director
Scott Sleezer,Park Foreman
Barb Reisinger, Recreation Admin.Assist.
Mike Schoppe, Schoppe Design
Chris Funkhouser, Schoppe Design
Mark Harrison, Schoppe Design
Public Comment—
None
Approval of Minutes—
Minutes of the May 24,2004 meeting and June 12,2004 were tabled for approval. Pilmer questioned how
the board had a meeting June 12, 2004 without a quorum, approved minutes and also had an executive
session. Pilmer stated that he wasn't accusing the board,but that he wanted to make sure the board was
following proper procedures. He also wanted to know if the meeting and executive session was taped.
Brown stated that both meetings were taped and that she would get a copy of them for the board. Rollins
stated that all issues that needed to be voted on were tabled and not voted on until enough board members
were present. Truman asked if an executive session must be recorded. Rollins stated that he thought they
were to tape record all meetings. Pilmer then said that he just wanted to make sure the board did comply
with correct procedures. The minutes were unanimously approved, following a motion by Koch. Truman
seconded the motion.
Fiala arrived at 7:10 p.m.
Bills Review—
Brown stated in reviewing the budget report cash analysis that the Illinois Grant for clean energy for
Beecher lighting was coded wrong. The money was a reimbursement for new lighting, and would be
changed in the detail budget report. Brown also reported that the current budget line item, of youth special
events expense/revenue would not be used any more. The budget line items will now be combined with the
program fees revenue and program supplies expense line items.
Koch asked what the Vermont expense on the bills list was. Brown stated it is the recreation registration
yearly maintenance agreement,which added new users, and the facility program this year. A motion to
approve the bills as submitted was made by Truman.Pilmer seconded the motion. All approved, except
Pilmer no.
Old Business -
Kylyns Ridge Park-Brown stated that Mike Schoppe and Chris Funkhouser brought two concept plans to
the town meeting for the Kylyns Ridge Park, and that the meeting was very positive. Brown stated that the
grant coordinator will submit an Oslad grant application even if there is no current funding, she wanted to
be up and rolling for the start of work on Phase I. Eighteen residents stated that they were in favor of option
A of the plans,the civil war theme.After discussion,Brown recommended that the board accept the
residents recommendations for concept A;proceed with the grant application, and with the phase I plan of
the development to city council to get approval,with the new amenities to be added at a later date. Rollins
then asked the board to adopt the recommendations made by the resident preference for plan A. All
members were in favor of the recommendation. The plan will go before the city council next week.
MPI Regional Park—Mike Schoppe then talked about the flood plain limits and what options were available
to the board. Discussion took place regarding the flood plain on property,the possible need to manipulate
land, and to possibly change the venue of a regional ballpark to Centex property,and the need for more
open recreation areas before they are lost. Rollins then made a motion to accept the plan, credit only the
high and dry land and the rest be cash.
Rivers Edge Bid- Mark Harrison of Schoppe Design then discussed with the board the River Edge
development bids. Schoppe Design recommended the bid of George's Landscaping with some in-house
labor,such as mulch,and installing some equipment. Brown recommended that the board forward to city
council for approval.Rollins asked for a motion for George's Landscaping bid and include item list of
131,616.22. Fiala motioned to accept the work as bid; Koch seconded the motion,with unanimous
approval.
Green Briar Pond Concept Plan —Mike Schoppe presented the plans for Green Briar Pond and the need to
reduce parks maintenance around the area. Discussion took place on what would be planted and the time
frame needed to accomplish the plan as presented. The board said they would like to go forward with a town
meeting for the Green Briar residents, before recommendation to city council.
New Business-
Brown stated that Sleezer received a bid for a truck at$12,587.00,plus title and license. Discussion took
place with Truman's motion to purchase the vehicle,and Fiala seconding. All in favor, except Pilmer no.
Correspondence-
Rollins then stated he would like to point out several articles in the board packet of interest. Discussion also
took place regarding the grant writer's contract being renewed and how it outweighs the grant money
already received. Rollins thanked Dave Cathey for his letter to the editor regarding parks, and holding
public officials accountable. He then asked if there is a record of grants written and received for the city.
Brown stated that the administration has that information. Alderman James said he thought it would be
beneficial if the grant writer would do a presentation for the city council in November.
Adjournment—
The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m. following a motion by Korinek,seconded by Koch.
Respectfully submitted,
Barb Reisinger
Next Meeting July 12,2004,7:00 p.m.at the Yorkville Parks and Recreation Riverfront
Administrative Building—301 East Hydraulic
YORKVILLE RECREATION DEPARTMENT
Superintendent's Monthly Report—Regular Park Board Meeting
July 12,2004-Meeting
Month of June - 2004
Highlights and Summary:
a Summer Classes and Special Events have startedfor the season. We have re-evaluated our summer offerings from last
year and still managed to offer 116 sections of classes and events.
Becky added more fishing ideas this summer as well as a canoe class and overnight trip.
We shortened the Kiddie Camp from last year and have approximately 22 kids attending this year. They seem to be
having a great time. The camp is being held at the Yorkville Grade School.
We are still offering golf tennis, horse riding, T-Ball as well as toddler outdoor classes.
Safety Town was held the first week after school was done, and we held it at Beecher. This year they took a trip to the
pool in Oswego for pool safety and the staff there did a very goodjob. They had gone to the YMCA pool in the past.
The concession stand seems to be running smoothly now. The highest night ofsales seems to be$350.00. We are still
reviewing the menu and the amount ofstaff during each night
We have been working with new software for facility use, and will be submitting calendars to the School Dist.for the new
school year. We are now able to enter all classes, and rentals into Rectrac and print reports separately for school use,
which means we only have to enter information once.
Outdoor Movies has moved to Beecher and seems to be working out well. Becky set up and supervised the first one on
the 12`h. We also had campers set up south of the ball diamonds.
Program plans are being created and entered in the Fall Catalog. We will have a new format which will be easier to
read We are able to take the data from Rectrac export it to Word and cut and paste into Quark(our publishing
software). Thanks to Becky who spent quite a bit of time to get help and learn how to do this process.
Partnerships:
Current partnerships;Yorkville School Dist. 115,Gold Star Academy of Dance,Oswegoland Park District-Senior Trips,
Kendall County Outdoor Education Center,YYBSA,Harold Oliver,Countryside Center(Old True Value—Dog
Training).
Classes:
Month of June Activities: Dance Classes,Crazy About Bubbles,Dog and Puppy Classes,Medieval Sword Making,Karate,
Backyard Fun,Yoga,Pilates,Fishing Club,Music Under The Stars,Outdoor Movie,Camping,White Sox Clinic,Youth Golf;T
Ball,Toddler Sensory Fun,Farmer's Market,Kiddie Camp and Bocce Ball.
As of June: Different Types of Activities-35 (different curriculum)
Sections - 116 Enrollment—418 Spec.Event Enroll.— 355 Cancellations—23 % Ran/Run— 60% Pending—17%
Rentals:
PAID rentals in May
Perkins 450.00 1 rental ($125 deposits)
Austin 120.00 1 rental ($150 deposits)
Beecher Park $205.00
Maintenance:
Beecher Community Building:
A/C repairs and preventive maintenance
Riverfront Administration Building:
None
Beecher Concession Stand:
A/C Installation
Upcoming Projects and Events:
Music Under The Stars Concert—July 9th—Fox Valley Concert Band July 23—Exceptions
Outdoor Movie—Daddy Day Care, July 24th and Camping in the Park
Farmer's Market every Saturday—8:00-Noon
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Swithir/" :.
v
1
Becky Scheberl
End of Month Report
June 2004
Program Highlights
Summer is in full swing. Residents have enjoyed such programs as Yoga, Pilates, Kiddie
Camp, Rookie T-ball and much more. The first year of Kiddie Camp is going well. We have
22 kids from the ages of 3-6 enjoying crafts, games, and more during this three-week
program.
Rookie T-ball had such an overwhelming response we needed to add another class to
accommodate everyone. We have over 60 kids participating in our t-ball classes. They
have been learning the basics of hitting, fielding, and base running.
Fall Soccer registration has begun, we have two more dates available for residents to
register, Wednesday, July 7 from 4-7 and Saturday, July 10th from 9-12. We are still in
need of volunteer coaches and referees. If you know of anyone who would be a great coach
or referee please ask them to contact the recreation office.
Over 26 area baseball players enjoyed a week of instruction from the White Sox Training
Academy. Two instructors from the academy instructed the players in base running, hitting,
fielding and teamwork.
Class Offerings for Summer 2004 as of July 1
total sections: 116
section cancellations: 26
sections ran 72
sections pending 18
classes filled: 4
waiting list: 2
injury report: 0
Survey Summary
We had 15 individuals complete a survey this month. Overall everyone enjoyed their
programs. The average rating for the programs was above average in all 9 categories.
Instructor Evaluations
No evaluations were completed this period.
Scholarships/Grants
Overall
Thirty-five kids entering kindergarten are taking advantage of our week long Safety Town.
We have had an overwhelming response for the Soccer Clinic we have added another
session of soccer. Some of the new programs offered this summer season include; Canoe
Clinic, Canoe Overnight Trip, Fishing Club, and Sports Mania.
YorKVlHe Kecreatlion Department - School District Facility Calendar 2003-2004rev. 05/04/04
final
FALL 2003
Program Facility Room Dates Day(s) Times Weeks Total Hours Proposed Actual
Youth Tumbling YMS Back Gym 9/15 - 12/17 Every M,W,Th 5 - 7:15 p 15 33.75 1,350 1,350
Girls Basketball 7-8 YMS Main Gym 10/18- 12/6 Every Sat 9-12 noon 7 21 840 840
Girls Basketball Games/PraciYMS Main Gym 10/14- 11/25 Every M,T,Th 7-9p 7 42 1,680 1,680
Adult Oil Painting YMS Art Room 9/13, 10/4, 11/01 Saturdays 8-4:30p' 3 24 960 0
Faux Finishing YMS I.A. Sept. 27 Sat. 9 11a 1 2 80 0
Home Maintenance for Wom1 YMS I.A. Changed to Oct.18 Sat. 9- 10.3 1 1.5 60 0
Men's Basketball YMS Gym 11/1,8,15,22,29 Sat. 12 -4p 20 80 3,200 3,20012/6,13,27,1/3,10,17,
24,31,2/7,14,21,28
Financial Planning YMS Classroom Nov. 6 Thursday 6:30-8:OOp 1 1.5 0
Internet For Seniors YHS Compt. Lab Changed to Nov.8 Sat. 9-11a 1 2 80 80
Tax Preparation Workshop YHS Lrg. In.Rm Nov. 18 Tuesday 7:00-8:OOp 1 1 40 0
S.W.A.T. Walkers Track 9/1 - 11/24 Mon. 4:30-5:15 p 13 13 520 520
Youth Athletic Classes CCIS Gym 9/10- 11/19 Every Wed 4:30-6:15 p 11 19.25 770 770
Chess For Beginners CCIS LC 10/14- 11/18 Every Tues 3:30-4:30 p 6 6 240 0
Activity Club CCIS Gym Oct. -May Every 1st and 3rd Th 3-5p 16 32 1,280 1,280
Women's Basketball CCIS Gym 11/5,12,19 Wed. 7-8p 3 3 120 0
Yoga / Pilates YGS Gym 9/8 - 11/24 Mon./Wed/Thurs. 6-7.3p 0
FALL SUB TOTAL cancelled changed 106 282 $11,220 $9,720
WINTER 2003-2004
Youth Tumbling YMS Back Gym 1/12-3/1 Every M,W,Th 6:30-9:OOp 8 29.5 1,180 1,180
Karate YMS Wrest. Rm 1/13,20,27 2/3,10,17 Tues 6:30-7:30p 12 12 480 0
Boys Basketball Games/Prac YMS Main Gym 1/5 -3/19 Every M,T,Th 7-9p 9 54 2,160 2,160
Boys Basketball 7-8 YMS Main Gym 1/10 -3/20 Every Sat. 9-12 noon 9 27 1,080 1,080
Open Gym YMS Both Gyms 12/3-3/17 Every Wed. 7-9p 12 24 960 960
Lil' Chefs YMS Living Skills 2/9-2/23 Every Mon 4-5p 3 3 120 0
Calligraphy/Journal Class YMS Classroom 2/12,19,26 Thurs 7- 8 p 3 3 120 0
Adult Drawing/Painting YHS Art Room 1/5,12,19,26 Mon 6:30 -8:OOp 4 6 240 240
Intro. To Musical Instrum. YHS Band Rm 1/17 - 3/6 Sat 9 11 a 8 16 640 0
Sports Instruction Classes YGS Gym 1/17-3/20 Every Sat 10 - Noon 10 40 1,600 1,600
Yoga/ Pilates YGS Gym 12/1 - 2/26 Mon/Wed/Thurs 6-7.3p 12 54 0
Boys&Girls Basketball 3-6 CCIS Gym 1/10-3/20 Every Sat. 9a-5p 10 80 3,200 3,200
Boys & Girls B-ball 3-6 Pract. CCIS Gym 1/5-3/20 Every M,T,Th,F 4:30-8:30p 10 160 6,400 6,400
Chess For Beginners CCIS LC 1/20-2/24 Every Tues 3:30-4:30p 6 6 240 0
Sports Instruction Classes YGS Gym 1/26-2/23 Every Wed 3-5p 10 40 1,600 1,600
Women's Basketball CCIS Gym 12/3- 1/28 Every Wed. 7-8p 7 7 280 0
3/2,9,16,23,30, 4/6
Winter Soccer BGS_ Gym 1/17-2/21 Every Sat. 9-11a 6 12 480 0
B-Ball Holiday Practice YMS Both Gyms 12-22,23,29,30,1-2 M,T,Fri 5-8p 2 15 600 600
12-27,1-3 Sat. 9-2p 2 10 400 400
into. To Computers YHS Lab 28-Feb Sat. 8,3- 11.3a 1 3 120 120
WINTER SUB TOTAL cancelled changed 144 601.5 $21,900 $19,540
SPRING 2004
Youth Tumbling YMS Wrestling 3/18-5/20 Every M,W,Th 5 -7:15 p 15 33.75 1,350 1,350AdultPaintingYMSArtRoom3/27 4/3,10 Sat. "9-11a 3 12 480 480KidsOnStageYHSCafetorium3/13-4/17 Every Sat. 10- 11a 6 6 240 0YouthDrawingClassYHSArtRoom4/17-5/8 Every Tues 6-7p 8 8 320 0SportsInstructionClassesYGSGym3/27-4/24 Every Sat 10- Noon 10 40 1,600 0
Yoga/Pilates YGS Gym 3/1 - 6/3 Mon/Wed/Thurs 6 -7.3p 12 54 0SportsInstructionClassesCCISGym3/29-4/26 Every Wed 3-5p 10 40 1,600 0
Organizing Your Space YMS Class 25-Mar Th 6.3-8.3 1 2 80 0
Organizing Papers, Etc. YMS Class 10-MayMon 6.3-8.3 1 2 80 0FauxFinishingYMSClass17-Apr Satp 8.3- 10.3a 1 2 80 0SPRINGSUBTOTALcancelledchanged67199.75 5,830 $1,830
SUMMER 2004
S.W.A.T. Walking Club Track June 7 - Aug. 30 Mon 9-10, 4-5 p 0KiddieCampYGSCaft./Gym 6/21 -25, 7/5-9 M, W, F 9-12 noon 2 18 720 720
Tennis Camp YHS Courts 7/6-7/30 Every T,W,Th,F 8-12 noon 4 64 2,560 2,560
Sports Camp YMS Cafet./Gym 6/14,16,21,23 T, Th 9- 11a 2 8 320 0
SUMMER SUB TOTAL
8 90 3,600 3280
TOTAL
325 1173.25 $42,550 $34,370
CONCESSION REPORT 2004
Mon Tues Wed Th Fri TOTAL
DATE 6/14/2004 6/15/2004 6/16/2004 6/17/2004 6/18/2004
1 game
Hours Open 5.3-8.15 5-8:OOp 5.3-8.0 5.3- 8.30 5.3-8.0
Weather 80 clear 80 sun 80 chance 80 chance 70's drisl.
Revenue 312.75 $210.75 $352.00 $324.50 $37.50 1,237.50
Expenses 502.49
Payroll 85.32 $92.19 $79.69 $83.12 $46.00 386.32
Waste 6.55 $3.88 $1.90 $3.32 $2.79 18.44
Bottom Line 330.25
Dept. Sales
1 $94.25 $73.00 $144.50 $100.75 $18.00 430.50
2 $36.50 $23.00 $47.00 $59.00 $5.00 170.50
3 $84.00 $59.50 $64.50 $68.00 $6.50 282.50
4 $58.00 $22.25 $65.25 $60.50 $3.50 209.50
5 $20.50 $0.00 $5.25 $4.00 $0.00 29.75
6 $19.50 $33.00 $25.50 $32.25 $4.50 114.75
TOTAL 312.75 $210.75 $352.00 $324.50 $37.50 TOTAL $1,237.50
PLU Quantity Cost TOTAL
Hot Dog 1 14 7 16 8 3 48 0.38 $18.24
Hamburger 2 1 0 0 1 2 0.52 $1.04
Cheeseburger 3 5 0 6 5 16 0.57 $9.12
Pizza 4 20 12 31 22 85 0.79 $67.15
Nachos 5 6 12 14 11 4 47 0.7E $35.25
Ex. Cheese 6 4 1 6 2 13 0.47 $6.11
Popcorn 7 24 38 42 33 13 150 0.12 $18.00
Preztel 8 6 6 14 8 1 35 0.17 $5.95
Pop 16 oz 9 18 13 28 28 87 0.17 $14.79
Pop 32 oz. 10 23 7 26 38 5 99 0.24 $23.76
Bottled Water 11 36 25 18 35 2 116 0.3 $34.80
Gatorade 12 25 13 30 18 3 89 0.7 $62.30
Propel 13 7 5 1 4 17 0.7 $11.90
Vanilla Cup 14 8 1 6 10 4 29 0.27 $7.83
Chery Zon Cup 15 11 0 11 22 0.44 $9.68
Rainb. Push 16 3 5 9 8 25 0.40 $10.00
Amer. Nut Cone 17 4 7 4 15 0.48 $7.20
Choco.Taco 18 1 3 4 4 1 13 0.74 $9.62
Lem Zone Cup 19 16 6 16 18 56 0.75 $42.00
Cookie Sand. 20 1 4 2 7 0.71 $4.97
Pizza,Pop 21 5 1 2 8 0.96 $7.68
H Dg, Pop, Chip22 3 3 1.09 $3.27
Ham.Pop,Chip 23 1, 1 1.14 $1.14
Ches.Pop, Chip 24 1 1 0.95 $0.95
Whole Pizza 25 0 6.00 $0.00
39 cent Candy 26 16 19 18 19 6 78 0.39 $30.42
75 cent Candy 27 5 11 8 12 36 0.75 $27.00
Apple Juice 28 0 0.69 $0.00
Straw. Kiwi 29 0 0.69 $0.00
Hot Chocolate 30 0 0.15 $0.00
Coffee 31 0 0.15 $0.00
Potato Chips 32 5 1 6 4 16 0.40 $6.40
Choc.Cup 33 12 1 4 7 24 1.08 $25.92
TOTAL 275 191 327 303 42 502.49
CONCESSION REPORT 2004
Mon Tues Wed Th Fri Sat TOTAL
DATE 6/21/2004 6/22/2004 6/23/2004 6/24/2004 6/25/2004
Hours Open 5.3-6.3 5.3-8.15 5.3-8 closed 5.15-8
Weather 70's rain 70 chanc 80 chance rain 1 game
Revenue 0.00 $259.50 $191.00 $0.00 $56.50 507.00
Expenses 206.78
Payroll 23.44 $55.31 $87.19 $5.00 $57.19 228.13
Waste 6.00 $6.51 $5.45 $0.00 $3.14 21.10
Bottom Line 50.99
Dept. Sales
1 95.00 $77.50 15.50 188.00
2 42.50 $25.25 11.00 78.75
3 48.00 $32.00 15.00 95.00
4 32.75 $38.00 2.25 73.00
5 0.00 $3.25 0.00 3.25
6 41.25 $15.00 12.75 69.00
TOTAL 0.00 $259.50 $191.00 $0.00 $56.50 $0.00 507.00
PLU Quantity Cost TOTAL
Hot Dog 1 11 8 1 20 0.38 $7.60
Hamburger 2 4 4 0.52 $2.08
Cheeseburger 3 1 4 5 0.57 $2.85
Pizza 4 19 17 36 0.79 $28.44
Nachos 5 9 3 5 17 0.75 $12.75
Ex. Cheese 6 10 1 11 0.47 $5.17
Popcorn 7 33 25 8 66 0.12 $7.92
Preztel 8 8 6 2 16 0.17 $2.72
Pop 16 oz 9 14 11 4 29 0.17 $4.93
Pop 32 oz 10 , 32 17 8 57 0.24 $13.68
Bottled Water 11 18 11 6 35 0.3 $10.50
Gatorade 12 17 12 6 35 0.7 $24.50
Propel 13 3 1 4 0.7 $2.80
Vanilla Cup 14 7 1 3 11 0.27 $2.97
Chery Zon Cup 15 0 0.44 $0.00
Rainb. Push 16 8 1 9 0.40 $3.60
Amer.Nut Cone 17 1 1 0.48 $0.48
Choco.Taco 18 1 1 2 0.74 $1.48
Lem Zone Cup 19 14 16 30 0.75 $22.50
Cookie Sand. 20 3 3 0.71 $2.13
Pizza, Pop 21 0 0.96 $0.00
H Dg, Pop, Chip22 0 1.09 $0.00
Ham.Pop,Chip 23 0 1.14 $0.00
Ches.Pop, Chip 24 1 1 0.95 $0.95
Whole Pizza 25 0 6.00 $0.00
39 cent Candy 26 19 6 11 36 0.39 $14.04
75 cent Candy 27 18 7 3 28 0.75 $21.00
Apple Juice 28 0 0.69 $0.00
Straw. Kiwi 29 1 1 0.69 $0.69
Hot Chocolate 30 0 0.15 $0.00
Coffee 31 0 0.15 $0.00
Potato Chips 32 10 3 1 14 0.40 $5.60
Choc. Cup 33 1 4 5 1.08 $5.40
TOTAL 206.78
CONCESSION REPORT 2004
Mon Tues Wed Th Fri Sat TOTAL
DATE 6/28/2004 6/29/2004 6/30/2004 7/1/2004 Closed
1 game 4 games 2 games 2 games for
Hours Open 5.15-8 5.3-8 5.3-8. 5.3-8 Season
Weather 70-fair 80 great high 80 80 sun
Revenue 68.25 $316.00 $189.50 $186.75 760.50
Expenses 315.91
Payroll 50.31 $61.88 $56.26 $60.93 229.38
Waste 2.50 $7.52 $9.03 $1.69 20.74
Bottom Line 194.47
Dept. Sales
1 $23.00 $96.50 $77.00 $77.00 273.50
2 $8.75 $51.50 $27.25 $29.50 117.00
3 $20.00 $68.50 $41.50 $29.50 159.50
4 $3.00 $74.75 $21.50 $29.00 128.25
5 $0.00 $0.00 $2.00 $0.00 2.00
6 $13.50 $24.75 $20.25 $21.75 80.25
TOTAL 68.25 $316.00 $189.50 $186.75 $0.00 $0.00 760.50
PLU Quantity Cost TOTAL
Hot Dog 1 3 7 5 11 26 0.38 $9.88
Hamburger 2 2 2 0.52 $1.04
Cheeseburger 3 2 2 0.57 $1.14
Pizza 4 21 26 24 71 0.79 $56.09
Nachos 5 1 11 10 6 28 0.75 $21.00
Ex.Cheese 6 1 7 2 10 0.47 $4.70
Popcorn 7 8 47 18 22 95 0.12 $11.40
Preztel 8 3 9 5 3 20 0.17 $3.40
Pop 16 oz 9 5 26 11 14 56 0.17 $9.52
Pop 32 oz. 10 5 32 19 19 75 0.24 $18.00
Bottled Water 11 5 37 13 10 65 0.3 $19.50
Gatorade 12 10 14 12 11 47 0.7 $32.90
Propel 13 6 7 2 15 0.7 $10.50
Vanilla Cup 14 3 1 4 10 18 0.27 $4.86
Chery Zon Cup 15 1 7 2 2 12 0.44 $5.28
Rainb. Push 16 1 7 4 1 13 0.40 $5.20
Amer. Nut Cone 17 15 2 3 20 0.48 $9.60
Choco.Taco 18 5 0 2 7 0.74 $5.18
Lem Zone Cup 19 24 5 11 40 0.75 $30.00
Cookie Sand. 20 2 2 4 0.71 $2.84
Pizza, Pop 21 1 1 0.96 $0.96
H Dg, Pop, Chip22 0 1.09 $0.00
Ham.Pop,Chip 23 0 1.14 $0.00
Ches.Pop, Chip 24 0 0.95 $0.00
Whole Pizza 25 0 6.00 $0.00
39 cent Candy 26 8 21 11 15 55 0.39 $21.45
75 cent Candy 27 5 6 8 7 26 0.75 $19.50
Apple Juice 28 0 0.69 $0.00
Straw. Kiwi 29 1 1 0.69 $0.69
Hot Chocolate 30 0 0.15 $0.00
Coffee 31 0 0.15 $0.00
Potato Chips 32 4 4 1 3 12 0.40 $4.80
Choc. Cup 33 4 2 6 1.08 $6.48
TOTAL 315.91
111fnu
r111441
PAW;A Rrcnt-Allont Yorkville Parks 8. Recreation Department
908 Game Farm Rd. Yorkville, It.60560 630,5534357 830.553.4380 fax e-mail:vorkrecdeopaoi.com
Administration Office: 301 E Hydraulic Street Yoffwifle,IC 60560 630.553.4341 630.553.4347 fax
PARK NAMING APPLICATION
Person completing application g-y icE"
On behalf of(person or organization) vi46-- g 7
Addirejs of person completing application
Yx7.1t I LD
Suggested Name V)g& R JCE- P,4 R Si4 - g iCE -PAQK
Park, location,facility to be considered for naming: k) VEd9e.-
Please explain why this name should be considered (please lise back of application or attach
additional sheets if necessaty).
5
If naming after a person please verify that the person or his immediate surviving family have
been contacted:
Person Contacted
00(6 Phone Number
Date contacted: By whom:
OFFICIAL USE
Date Received: By whom:
Request Verified by Staff
Schedule for Park Board Review: Date: Action
City Council Date: Action:
Dedication Name on Signage
Location of Park, Facility, Building, thoroughfare:
0 cp
0 Lk
Gary Rice
Home phone
Yorkville,IL 60560 GARY RICE CELL:
My father Virgil Rice passed away in 1991. He and my mother resided in Yorkville from
1950- Time of their death. My family has resided in Yorkville for 53 of my 56 years,having
just built a home in River's Edge Subdivision.
These are the reasons I believe a city park should be named in my father's honor:
1. He owned and operated a business in downtown Yorkville from 1951 - 1981. It was the
FS Gas station on Van Emmon Road above the current Grainco FS store and next to
the Kendall County farm bureau. The name of the business was Rice's Service.
2. During that time my father, along with a few other businessmen downtown started the
Yorkville Business Men's Association. They held regular meetings and discussed ways
to bring more business to Yorkville. This was long before a Chamber of Commerce
was ever thought of. If memory serves me right their were about 15 members.
3. He also coached Little League baseball for 5 years, and Pony League for 3 years.
4. He helped build a new baseball field where the present Middle School sits, and he and
5 other businessmen installed lights on the field. It was one of only a couple of lighted
ball fields within miles.
5. He coached the men's city league softball team and started a fourth of July annual
game with the Southsiders of town playing the Northsiders of town. This game went
on every year for over 15 years.
6. My dad was very active in the community and was known for his generosity. Many
kids would walk by his station and get free bottles of pop or candy bars just for
stopping in. I witnessed my dad giving gas to many people who could not afford it.
7. We lived at the top of Methodist Hill and my dad would close off Van Emmon Street
crossing Methodist Hill so the kids could sled without worrying about cross traffic.
With the permission of the Police Chief,my dad would have his tow truck with it's
lights flashing to stop any traffic. This made the sledding much safer and sometimes
their were as many as a hundred kids using the hill.
I am sorry but my memory has failed me on dates, etc.
I would consider it an honor if you would approve naming the park in my subdivision,Rivers
Edge after my father. I would also like to see former business men from the days when
Yorkville was a town of less than 1200 honored in some way.
Sincerely,
Gary Rice
YDRKVILLE
J. lel
PARKS&RECREATION Yorkville Parks & Recreation Department
908 Game Farm Rd. Yorkville, IL 60560 630.553.4357 630.553.4360 fax e-mail: vorkrecdep@aol.com
Administration Office: 301 E Hydraulic Street Yorkville, IL 60560 630.553.4341 630.553.4347 fax
NAMING OF PARKS POLICY
The purpose of the "Naming of Parks Policy" is to provide consistent direction for naming park
property and improvements within the United City of Yorkville.
Any citizen, group, city official, or staff may request or recommend a name for a park, building,
structure or thoroughfare within designated park property. The proposed name is to be submitted
in writing on an application form to the Executive Director of Park and Recreation or Park Board
Chairperson. All applications will be consider at their next regularly schedule meeting of the Park
Board. Upon Park Board approval and recommendation, subject proposal will than be presented
to the City Council for acceptance. If accepted by the City Council, a dedication will take place
within 90 days of approval.
The following criteria will be used when considering the selection of park related names:
1) Any person living or deceased, who has made a significant contribution in support of the
United City of Yorkville, the Park and Recreation Department operation, the state or
national park system, conservation of natural resources or in the recreation profession.
2) Any organization that contributed significantly toward improving the quality of life for the
residents of the United City of Yorkville, state or national park, conservation of natural
resources or the recreation profession.
3) The proposed name for any park building, structure or thoroughfare within a park must be
authorized by a sworn statement from the person whose name is being proposed, or if the
person is deceased, the person's immediate surviving family members. Organizations
wishing to present a proposed name for any park building, structure or thoroughfare must
submit a sworn statement signed by the current President and Secretary of said
organization.
4) No park or recreation facility or property can be named after any public official currently
holding office or person currently employed by the United City of Yorkville.
5) Names that would duplicate the name of another park, building or structure, or thoroughfare
within the United City of Yorkville will not be considered. Also, names that advocate or
endorse religion, religious beliefs, posses obscene connotations, or demean or attempt to
intimidate any individual or group based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, or sexual
orientation within the United City of Yorkville will not be considered.
6) The Park Board and staff will review and discuss the naming of park submittals during their
regular monthly meeting. Upon their consideration, the Park Board will seek a majority vote
in favor of naming a park, facility, structure, or thoroughfare. A recommendation, on behalf
of the Park Board, will then be taken to the City Council for final approval. The Park Board
may direct/suggest staff to conduct public contests for the naming of parks, buildings,
structures, or thoroughfares within City park property. Exceptions to this policy may be
considered upon recommendations by the Park Board with approval of the City Council.
Approved by Park Board 5/12/03
Revised: 7/13/04
UNTIED CITY OF YORKVILLE
PARK BOARD
5 Year Term)
NAME ADDRESS PHONE APPOINTED TERM EXPIRES
NUMBER
Chris Rollins 5/1/00 May 2005
Bob Pilmer 5/13/03 May 2005
School Dist. 2 year term
Rep.
Ken Koch 5/1/01 May 2006
Richard Korinek 5/13/03 May 2007
4 year term
Tammy Smock 7/13/04 May 2008
Van L. Truman 1/28/03 May 2008
reappt: 5/13/03
Heather L. Fiala 1/28/03 May 2009
reappt: 5/11/04
Date Joined Term Date Officers
Chris Rollins 1998 2005 President 2003-04 / 04-05
reappointment 2000
Yorkville, IL 60560
H
Email:
Dave Cathey 1998 2008 Vice President 2003-04 / 04-05
reappointment 2003 resigned 7/04
Yorkville, IL 60560
H
Email:
Ken Koch 2001 2006
Yorkville, IL 60560
H
Email:
Heather Fiala 2003 2004 Secretary 2003-04 / 04-05
re-appointment of five year term 4/30/09
Yorkville, IL 60560 2009
H
Email:
Van Truman 2003 (fill in)
reappointment 2003 2008
Yorkville, IL 60560
Email:
Date Joined Term Date Officers
Richard Korinek 2003 2007
Yorkville, IL 60560
Email:
Bob Pilmer 2003 2005
Plano, IL 60545
School District Liaison
Paul James re-election 2003 2007
Yorkville, IL 60560
H
City Council Liaison
Tammy Smock 7/2003 replacement 2008
for Dave Cathey
Yorkville, IL 60560
Mobile
STATE OF ILLINOIS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DISTRICT OFFICE
1j
1!!y SPRINGFIELD OFFICE
32 MAIN STREET,SUITE A 204-N STRATTON BUILDING
SUGAR GROVE,ILLINOIS 60554 y\ '%SPRINGFIELD,ILLINOIS 62706
630/466-9791 4 217/782-1486
Patricia Reid Lindner
ASSISTANT REPUBLICAN LEADER
Memorandum
Date: July 7, 2004
To: Member Initiative Grant Recipients
From: Patricia Reid Lindner
Last week a small group of us met with the Governor. One of the many issues
raised was the lack of funding for the member initiative projects. The Governor
stated that he was unaware that the projects had not been funded. I immediately sent
the enclosed letter to the Governor's chief of staff in hopes that this issue would be
resolved. I will keep you apprized of any further updates.
Sincerely,
PatriciaReid Lindner
State Representative-50th District
Assistant Minority Leader
Member Projects `
RECYCLED PAPER-SOYBEAN INKS
STATE OF ILLINOIS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DISTRICT OFFICE 4 SPRINGFIELD OFFICE
32 MAIN STREET,SUITE A 204-N STRATTON BUILDING
SUGAR GROVE,ILLINOIS 60554
j,,
rt` SPRINGFIELD,ILLINOIS 62706
630/466-9791 y ,. 0: . 217/782-1486
Patricia Reid Lindner
ASSISTANT REPUBLICAN LEADER
June 30th, 2004
Mr. Lon Monk
Chief of Staff
207 State House
GC)
Springfield,IL 72706
Dear Lon:
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us yesterday. Pursuant to our conversation
concerning member projects, I am enclosing the list of projects from my district that have
not been funded.
I would appreciate anything you could do to facilitate moving these projects.
Sincerely,
rnck
A istant Republican Leader
State Representative
Patricia Reid Lindner
RECYCLED PAPER-SOYBEAN INKS
It's a nice reminder of how much our friends and neighbors and community really care."
Ray Eberhardt,father of Theresa and Samantha Eberhardt
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N DONNELL COLLINS/STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHER he city of Yorkville will rename"Prairie Park"to"Hiding Spot Park" in honor of Samantha and Theresa (pictured) Eberhardt.Samantha died in
1996.e i 1paoetohide
I Yorkville names arkhonor oTheresap ineresa and Samantha
Eberhardt BY Dan Want Theresa's love for the park,along And that's how they see their daugh- cheotomy tube,they said Theresa
like-STAFF WRITER with a neighborhood's support for her ter,who has many of the interests and ly would not be able to talk.Shedoes.family and the memory of her late sis- actions of a typical 8-year old. I just love hearing her call outmyTheresaMarieEberhardtboundsterledtothecity's decision to rename If you know Theresa,she's very de- name,"says Ray,as Theresa yellsoutoverthegrassataparknearherPrairieParkatParkandFreemonttermined,"says Marianne."We've had "Dad"from the other side of thepark.home on a sunny summer streets.a lot of things that we've had to work "She has always been able to find awaymorning. Both the Park Board and City Coun- through,but we just had to take things tocommunicate."She moves swiftly and determinedly, cil unanimously approved the name a day at a time." Theresa wasn't supposed to beableundeterredbywhatshesaysarea"lot change to"Hiding Spot Park in Honor Theresa has spinal muscular acro- to hold a pen or pencil.Thefamilyofbigbumps"in the terrain:of Samantha and Theresa Eberhardt" phy,a disease which affects the nerves cherishes a painting that shecreated.The blue-eyed blonde spots some- earlier this summer. controlling voluntary muscle move- Perhaps most of all,theEberhardtthingintheturfthatsheknowsherThenamehonorsthetwodaughtersmeet.Nurses at the family's home help family enjoys getting outside andbeingdadwilllike—a slightly scuffed,but of Ray and Marianne Eberhardt— out for 18 hours a day. part of the.Yorkvillecommunity.still very much playable,golf ball. Theresa and the late Samantha,who There have.been a number of I love to show her off,"
Marianne in Lutheran General Hos- says."She's just an amazing
girl."A bit later she finds something for died in 1996. lengthystayshermomandgentlycradlesthreefrag- The park's name is as much a tribute pita(in Park Ridge,a number of surg Theresa has a number of friends,her ile yellow wildflowers in her hand.She to the Eberhardt family as it is to the eries and a number of challenges.But favorite music on CDs and sheenjoysknowsyellowishermom's favorite community spirit that observers say her parents say Theresa thrives on going to the mall,where shepolitelycolor. thrives in the neighborhood that has those challenges and has filled their says"excuse me"as she worksherThen,with an enthusiasm common embraced Theresa as one of their own. home with joy.waythrough theaisles.to any 8-year-old bringing treasures to It's a nice reminder of how much I am so proud to be her dad,"says She doesn't like to say that she can't her parents,she returns to the shaded our friends and neighbors and commu- Ray Eberhardt,a detective with the do something,"Raysays.picnic table at which they are sitting. pity really care,"Ray says. Kendall County Sheriffs Department.Theresa's progress is a credit totheThatTheresamadethistrekacrossWearejustreallyhonoredandTheresaisunabletowalk,but with doctors,nurses,therapists andteach-the park on a motorized wheel chair humbled by this,"adds Marianne.'We her motorized wheelchair,she
enjoys makes no difference to them. just feel like we are normal people."her mobility.When doctors put in a tra Turn to PARK,
G3
m.... she is a sweet,intelligent young thenomination.PARKgirl that comes from a good family Samantha died at age
14 and has the ability to make time months in March, 1996,just
three From page Gl stand still,"Parks Department months before Theresa was
born.Foreman Scott Sleezer wrote in his After Samantha's death,
the ers who have been instrumental in letter recommending the park neighborhood raised moneyto -_her care,her parents said. name change.have an evergreen tree planted
in Theresa will be a third-grader Although Sleezer does not know ' her honor in the
park.this fall at Yorkville Grade School, the family well,he feels a common Theresa always enjoyed
visiting where she is in a mainstreamed bond with the Eberhardts.The - ; the park,but was limited in
what classroom."I can't say enough Sleezers lost their daughter, she could play with there,
Sleezer about the school and the teach- Emily,to a disease when she was 3 says.About five years ago,
the ers,"Marianne says."And the kids years old.Emily Sleezer Park is Yorkville Junior Woman's
Club just totally accepted her right named in her honor, decided to raise money for
a away." Sleezer made the nomination in wheelchair
swing.
r Her parents say Theresa is so part because the site never was of- "The community ralliedtogetlf,*,:popular in town that it sometimes ficially named Prairie Park.'But it er and raised the money for
the seems everyone knows her. was the community banding to- swing,and the city did the
rest, "`If you have never met Theresa, gether to help that really inspired Sleezer says:
I
City'celebrates
national ark,
recreation month
The United City of Yorkville Park and
Recreation.-..Department will be
celebratngufy=a National Park anti
Recreation Month
The Yorkville Parks and Recreation
Department provides over 500 leisure
and recreational activities for individuals
and families annually These activities
promote stronger famthes and healthier
communities,Au ldself-esteem develop
r leadership skills and reduces stress and
enhances-`the overall,qu'ality of life
Declaring July as the National Park• 4
and Recreation month helps to cele'brae
the benefits of Recreation and Parks
Recreation and active hvmg helps people
rive longer adding up=to two--years to
life expectancy,The theme for this year
isGet Active,Get Goingii says Laura
Brown „Execufi ',Director of Park and
Recreation It,reflects the importannce
that phys;
Park.Board thanks...
I would like to thank:Yorkville Park hoard-member;-
David Cathey,for-his years of-selfless-service to•the=
Yorkville community. I would•remind:readers that the_
Yorkville Park Board is=made•up entirely of vnl`unteers
people who contribute .their time energy, and life
experiences..for "the betterment of the} community'
without compensation We sacrifice time with spouses
children and loved ones because we believe that only
through careful planning stewardship ;and nsensus
will Yorkville's:assets;beused;tot ere reatest 'ocotential ..=h g
I appreciate the hard work of.our mayor aodthe city
council._Theirs is a:difficult task m uagrowing and'
demanding commuty. However 'the question of:
renni
ewing.the grant writing contract with,,C H Schrader_;
and .Associates-required minimal effortA $75 000•
return on a$34,OOQ mvesiment is what most people call_
a "no bramef' =In fight of publicized rancorous
encounters in ourcity.council,I-fear that-the objectivity
of`some of our aldermen has succumbed-to personal j
agendas. Thought do.i{otunderstarndthe opposition to
renewing this contract,I'cannot say that"I.am"suiprised
One of the,park board's more difficult challenges is
maintaining awareness in the comniunity of dwindlingrecreationaland.edu#cational open space oportunites
This will always be a struggle as parks and recreation
competes for dollars- with streets =Utilities an
government services Parks and recreation will1iklS'bei
a Tower.,ariority 'than these concerns gas is p'`iobabl,'-'appropriate plowever as you no doubt have heard many
times, once thedand is gope it is gone foreverVe hve
one opportunity to influence the Timate and character of<, 1
this community If we ignore or piocrastin ate the' _
i opportunity wewilI have failed-"the future gerte ations
who would call Yorl ville home
F VAN L TRUMAN
Yorkville Pack Board Commissioner ,:
Grant writer.::
I am writing idresponse to the recent articles in the
paper regarding the renewal of the contract forthe grant
writer for the City of Yorkville
I am appalled that_CityAlderman Rose Spears would
question Me benefit of
renewingf.
the grant writer contract
from a firm fo-r an annual cost of$14;000 CH Schrader
and Associates successfully'obtained a $75,000 grant 1
from IDNR for park development Even if this was-=the
only grant this firm applied for,having a return of almost
450 percent-is definitely using and saving taxpayers 5
money.With the statebudget hi:crisis.and the immediate '
elimination of the OSLAD and OLT grantingprogram I
think_getting any grant is a major accomplishment
Ms.Spears, I would like to correct your comments
regarding the Executive .<Director oT _Park and
Recr`eation's purpose when she was hired, as you stated 9
was to write grants.' She was hired toes[abhsh and
opprate the Park and Recreation Department ;One of her
goals and the city"goals was for her to obtaingrants:and
she has done-that for the city. During the past year and
half since Laura has been employed "she has wntten`and
obtained several grants which include,7liinois Clean
Energy light grant.for Beecher Community Center,
COLT grant for:the acquisition of the West Hydraulic
greenway,"Illinois First Grant ands-most-recently_the,
iIAPDGranttosupportnewafterachoolprograms,
These grants total more than$200,000
Your implication -of Laura not!,doing her job or
lowering her salary sin exchange for the"-grant writer l!
contract renewal is outrageous Laura:and other city staff.,
members Werk from-8 to 4:30 everyday and then attend
meetings beginning at-7 p m timseveral es a;month You.=;
should not be attacking this team ofdedicated city
workers.
I agree with Alderman Sticka when he stated that park
improvements:were a quality-Of ilife:issneIvls .Spearsstop -attacking city;'staff' and asyreaou have no_,
knowledge of. Instead applaud he-teamwork of_the
management staff of this city;and theaccomplishmnteof:,
individual city staff,to find resource s to improveand;i
make Yorkville a better place'to live
Ms.Rose Spears the Park Board meets the;second and
fourth_'Monday of everymonth In the seven years Iehav
been a member`you have attended;one meeting We
invite you to attend
DAVID CATHEY
Park Board Member
Thursday,July 1,2004 RECON 3
1 "I'lOrkllnj=F;: F:,:-:i-q•-'-4-:;',;':.lz-t;_,f.' j-'2.,T..:,::-__-',_.::., __
Park and Recreation Month•.
The National._Park and Recreation =Association'_.'
designates July':as Parkand Recreation Month. .
I have been'a member of the.Yorkville Park Board'for r
a little•more than a year As aboard niemberI have the
opportunity,,to_4review and make' suggestions to.
developers regarding new h6usmg subdivision-s'and their`",
land donations:for City=Parks 3
I want to recognize the•`=many developers who
understand.tthat parks and open space areas increase '
property;value,-and'==therefore ;tax: revenue .Many
developers are automatically including parkland athletic s
field complexes and;other.amenities -as marketing
features for their new developments
Parks open;space and Fecreation services are an
essent%al part_of every conmumty The 'ability to-,f'.
participate in recreational programs provides personal
social,=economical and environmental benefits to the
whole community
The advantage to the provision of parks, open spaces
and protected natural resources:4§7-$,C--',F..‘ontribution to the
environmental health of -,our omm•unity The
development of green;spaces-improves air quality by v
removing carbon dioxide sulphur dioxide and other
pollutants from the air w•- -
Recreation and parks are irnportant toyquality of life :
As Yorkville contmues;to grow and expand with the new„
housing and businesses we need to also continue to
foster he'development of_neighborhood, community 1
regional::parks and open space areas Our`Park and .
Recreation Department=and.City staff;do an excellent job
with the resources they,are given we need to continueto
develop.parks and open space for the overall health of
Our community a _a
Spend time with your family memb•ers and friends
during.the;month_of.July.and celebrate the wonderful;:
Parks and Open Space Yorkville has
HEATHER FIALA
Yorkville,Park-and Recreation Board Member
RE CO Thursday,day, July 8, 2004
Fortin' .
From page 5
Mr. Cathey, I was on the interviewing/hiringVeteranfeelshonored... committee when the City hired the Parks & Recreation City needs larger lots...
Executive Director. There were several qualified
On Memorial Day I was one of the men presented with candidates that were interviewed for the position. The As Mr. Cathey stated, he received information from a
a certificate for being a veteran from World War II.I was "selling" point of hiring our current executive director resident that attended the June 15 City's Committee of
so impressed with the entire day. It must have taken was her extensive experience in grant writing and the the Whole meeting. It is apparent the information he
plenty of time to plan everything. No detail was left out. cost savings to the City by utilizing her grant writing received was erroneous and taken out of content. First, I'
I want to thank Carl Strause for making the certificates.I skills eliminating the need to hire an additional did not indicate I was not concerned about parks and
just wish I could have thanked him in person. I'm from individual to prepare grants. This position was hired at open spaces; however, I have become greatly concerned
Chicago and they neverdid anything like that before. an annual salary of $58,801:After a year, die director with the City currently placing top priority on Parks and
Thank you to the band for the wonderful music and to received a 31,5 percent increase($77,646 annual salary). Recreational areas.I am of the opinion priority should be
the Legionnaires for helping to make me feel proud to be Unfortunately, 1 was recovering from surgery and. did placed on other areas of concern (e.g., maintaining the
a veteran. not vote against this extremely high increase. Several , current roads, avoiding increased traffic, public safety,
FRANK BOR.KOWSKI -months later, the staff recommended we hire a grant overcrowding of our schools,etc.).
World War H Veteran writer recommended by the Executive Director. This Yes, I indicated my concern and disapproval of the
City considering approval of smaller lot sizes (9,000 sq.additional cost of$14,000 was in my opinion, a double
Disagrees on grant writer issue... payment for a job task. ft. rather than the established standard of.12,000 sq. ft.)
Yes I questioned if the City should review the developers are proposing. I do not agree with the
RE: GRANT WRITER CONTRACT. The status of considerable increase in annual salary ($18,845) along repeated statement regarding homebuyers.desiring less
and the services we received from C. H. Schrader and with the additional cost of$14,000 for a grant writing sq.ft.lots in order to have less property to maintain.
Associates Grant Writing contract was discussed during contract and allocate $14,000 from the annual salary of During the meeting, I also reminded the Council that
the August 2003, September 2003 and October 2003 the Executive Director to offset the fee for the grant previously, on numerous occasions, many Council
Administration Committee meetings.The Committee (4 writing contract. members criticized neighboring communities for
alderpersons)requested the staff contact the grant writer Mr. Cathey, if you attended the last Committee of the allowing smaller lots. Again, smaller lot sizes would
to research grants available in other areas (infrastructure, Whole and/or the City Council meetings, you would allow additional homes per acre ultimately resulting in
police, public safety, etc.), pertaining to the entire City have heard me state that the Executive Director of Parks increased population, overcrowded schools, expense of
rather than just parks and recreational grants. The staff & Recreation was doing a fine job for the Parks and maintaining current and proposed roads, additional
agreed this was a valid request and indicated they would Recreation Department. I made this statement during staffing, public safety and traffic concerns. These are
meet with the grant writer and relay the request. both meetings; therefore, I do not know why you several critical issues we are cunently facing.
Quarterly, the Administration Committee reviewed the accused me of stating the Executive Director was not I do not comprehend Mr. Cathey's logic regarding
status of the grants applied for by the contracted grant ' doing her job. Furthermore, I have on numerous approval of developments proposing smaller lots and
writing firm. Again, the Committee indicated that occasions praised several City personnel on the excellent offering more acres for parks would result in affordable
additional areas must be researched. performance of their jobs.housing. Again, smaller lots would clearly increase
It should be noted, the majority of grants the City has ; Mr. Cathey, in response to your statement regarding population, greatly impact the school system, increase
received within thepast twoyears have been my not attendingthe Park Board meetings, you are well the costs of maintaining current and future roads,requireprepared. g y
and submitted by Yorkville's Police Department. The ! aware of the Council members being assigned as liaisons additional staff, public safety issues, and increase traffic
two grants we have been awarded submitted by the Parks ' to various committees and boards. Alderman Paul James on already overcrowded streets. Certainly these concerns
Recreation department are: Illinois Clean Energy . is liaison to the Park Board. I attend monthly Human would result in increased taxes and a great burden on
Light for Beecher Center ($4,750) and the Colt West Resources Commission meetings and Senior Service current residents. Many residents have indicated they
Hydraulic Land Acquisition Grant (researched and Providers Meetings. I also served as liaison to the School may be forced to move out of Yorkville due to the
recommended by State Rep. Pat Linder) $100,000. This Board (the school board meets the same evenings the inconveniences and expenses incurred by allowing
was a grant that the staff prepared and submitted in Park Board meets). Unfortunately, I have not developed higher density developments. How would these current
several days due to the research by Rep. Linder. Both the skill of attending several meetings simultaneously. residents benefit from additional, larger parks in new
departments should be recognized for obtaining the Furthermore, contrary to what you stated, I attended high density developments?
grants. more than one Park Board meeting. If you recall, when Regarding Mr. Cathey's statement "recreation
C. H. Schrader & Associates prepared eight grants the City and Park Board were experiencing enhances the overall quality of life through positive
submitted the communication and working relationship problems; in experiences and creates social opportunities for allduringtheentirecontractedyear.Yes,they
OSLAD grant and the City received $74,000 for the order to not dissolve the Park Board, I served (as residents of Yorkville". In Ward 4, there is no park in
representative of the Council) on the committee to Countryside and there is only a very small park inRiversEdgePark. Yes, paying a $14,000 fee for the
annual grant writing contract resulting in receiving discuss and resolve the problems. You also served on the Blackberry. I do not believe the individuals living in74,' '10 is a considerable profit. However, after Committee. Trust me, we had more than one meeting to Ward 4 are lacking positive experiences and/or social
discussions with the staff and being informed the staff develop a good working relationship between the opportunities without parks being located in their
does the majority of the research and allocates numerous Council, City Staff and the Park Board. neighborhoods.
hours in this research and the grant writer receives the I realize you have moved out of town and are no As a former Park Board member, for the past 6 years,
longer on the Park Board; however, I would like to Mr. Cathey's main concern has been Parks andinformationandsimplypreparesthepaperworkto
submit, was a concern to me. Furthermore, the Council extend an invitation to you to attend our Committee of Recreation. That is typical and the reason he was
the Whole and City Council Meetings held every appointed to the Park Board. However, as an electedhasbeenrecentlyinformedthatthisfirmspecializesin
Parks & Recreational grants. Not a surprise to Council, Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. to keep in tune with the status of official representing the entire City, I am required to
members that continuously asked the staff to request the the City. evaluate the whole picture regarding the rapid growth of
grant writer to research and apply for grants in other ROSE SPEARS the City and the numerous major concerns facing us
areas(infrastructure,public safety,policy,etc.) Alderwoman-Ward 4 related to this growth. Again, I am of the opinion, parks
Receiving $74,000 through the efforts of the grant and recreational areas should not receive top priority.
writer is acceptable. However, there are hundreds We have created many other concerns that should .
maybe thousands) of grants dollars available; and, (Editor's note: Laura Brown, executive director of receive top priority.
applying for only eight grants (resulting in an award of Parks and Recreation was hired in May 2002 fora salary Additionally,Mr.Cathey,I would like to be the first to
only $74,000) in only the Parks & Recreational area is of $58,800. Her salary was raised to $67,000 in inform you that when I attended the Joint Plan
also a concern to me. If the City is going to expend November 2002 as part of salary adjustments of all city Commission/City Council meeting last week regardingdollarsforcontractualservices, why don't we contract staff members. In May 2003, her contract was approved developing the comprehensive plan for the south side of
for a diversified firm that would research various grants with a salary of$70,000. This was adjusted to $74,000 Yorkville, I suggested a plan for a minimum of 2 to 3
available to the City?in November, 2003 as part of her employment contract. acre equestrian development sites in order to maintainDuringseveralmeetings, the Council indicated that a The Council approved a five percent raise to $77,000 in the country atmosphere, allow for more green space andperformanceclausebeincludedinthecontractforMay, 2004.)
lessen the impact of overcrowding. I also suggested wereviewwithinseveralmonths. The City staff was also consider increasing our standards to 14,000 sq. ft. lotsdirectedtocontactotherfirmsthatdid.not specialize in
rather than the current 12,000 sq. ft. lots. This wouldonlyparksandrecreationalareasforconsideration.indicate that I am also interested in additional greenmm
space by requiring larger lot sizes. If the developers are
not interested in meeting our requirements,I would be in
favor of leaving the land undeveloped, natural ,and
maintain the open green space areas.
We need to concentrate on attracting commercial and1IIOMEGindustrialdevelopmentstoassistthecurrentresidents
m n , Un
ERS
Citywith ofthe Yorkvilletaxstructure.
is a
I
primeaof andthe
desireopiiond
locationthe
ited
foriNSU'"''''' i'' ''''CE developers. I would like to continue enforcing or events; increasing our standards in order to maintain the small
town,country atmosphere that attracted the to Yorkville.
Are you looking for an alternative? ROSE SPEARS
1 .N14!11114111..,1.,A..;€,...-::•:::.. 11
S Alderwoman-Ward 4
1; l`1
t E K :i As independent insurance brokers, we have many
jt '''411111'1 companies & types of coverage available. We can
yf shop around and find the perfect coverage for you
7-:, 1 at the best possible price.
E 1 Thanks to Youth baseballsponsor.—seal ,' ,l ';7 Call or visit us today.4
o®`eMl A big thanks to Bob Allen and Allen Air Charter forBINIEr
Y n 1 T
psi
1,
fry 3 " k Illli sponsoring our Boys Major League Baseball Team in the
w
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w
II Yorkville Youth Baseball Association summer league.
r 4: - '" iEyx:
Eo m3 z iw Filo r.
0 {d' 4 xp phis .
syr
I I11 a I1
JERRY CLASEY
r fess ' yf s, r , s n ,Y 215 Hillcrest Ave.,dAve., Yorkville RANDY J.CAVANAUCIH
su 4 ZEEIT u x I NSO N 630-553-5775
Team 4
7141aell/na&U. e 1c a I
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if
s noted in the accompanying piece by Dave Scarmardo, manager, Madeline Bertrand County Park, Niles, Mich.
parks and recreation departments are always looking for Tyler says disc golf accounts for almost 75 percent of the
ways to fill unique voids in public recreation. park's revenue (bringing in almost $60,000 per year). The
The user demand has grown more savvy over the years as course's operation is similar to a scaled down version of a golf
witnessed by the explosion of skateparks, sprayparks, dog parks, course,with a pro shop that sells and rents discs, water bottles,
climbing walls, ropes courses, alternative waterfront sports like towels and the like, and takes in fees to play the course (a day
kayaking, and anything that's new and creative. fee is$3 for unlimited play).Tyler report that the park sells about
Of increasing value are individual sports and activities that 2,000 discs per year, in addition to other revenue generated.
are self-paced. Bill DeMaio, acting parks and recreation director Portland, Ore., also has a disc golf course, but it's free to
for New Britain,Conn. (see the profile on New Britain on page 6), play. It was provided through a grant and the work of a user I
says the trend is moving toward fewer adult leagues, so New group, who also helps maintains the course.
Britain is striving to offer more individual-type activities. We're opportunistic about it. Sometimes we're visionary
People want more outdoor adventure programming—indi- and lead the way.Sometimes we get dragged kicking and scream-
vidual sports for adults, like canoeing and kayaking on our ponds, ing and then have found out it wasn't such a bad deal. It's about
for instance," says DeMaio. "We're developing a nature trail adopting an entrepreneurial approach," says Bob Downing,
where people can go out the park as a family and take advantage Portland Parks and Recreation park maintenance superinten-
of a self-guided nature program." dent. "If there's something you can do that's extra with a unique`'
New Britain is also striving for ways to meet the two-fold pur- support group, get them involved in funding, operations and'
pose of providing services to its community and to generate the maintenance. It's easy to get someone to give you something. It's
revenue that pays for it.the ongoing maintenance that's most challenging."
One of the best examples is the city's Terrific Toy rental pro-In one of its more unique programs, Portland Parks and
gram. About 16 years ago, the city started with a moonwalk Recreation has teamed up with a non-profit, the Rose Festival
called Peter Pan Fantasy. Association,to operate the retail
The idea was to buy t hportion of the city's three rose
this expensive t gardens. Thepartner bringsPpiece
I:-r Q-. g g
of equipment and rent ; i- i ..-.T--:;: with it retail experience and
S .it out to
surrounding1.
expertise, generates revenue
towns. Then, to take 50 n and shares most of the profprof-
percent of the revenue .$ its with the department.
back into maintenance ."`=rii y `' 1 Vii? Downing says the
and purchasing new tl ,.• , department expected some
equipment, and 50 per-
I
t t S` ,;.
j$4 1?;; F revenue from the venture,
s r N st'
cent into youth scholar r dd'+ i but the partnership has t
ships, explains DeMaio A'4ii y been far more successful
It's also an employment x. " ,mss ,
fx,- than imagined.
program for high-school We have a couple of
and college students. We'll ,. r.'
i. z other partner relationships,
go to schools, picnics and t where non-profits operate
all-night graduation parties. 1
A
s botanical gardens for
We rent them out to corpo- - --
x+, .,s_,.
y^-" . us who participate in
rations for employee parties, a"4 f. :. fundraising and operational
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts duties at a variety of levels," says Downing.
functions and so on. We now have 29 different attractions,Downing says the department is always on the lookout for
including three different moon walks, a train,climbing walls,car- sponsors and partners of every stripe. When Nike celebrated its
nivel games, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine, a 30th anniversary,for instance, it re-surfaced all of Portland's bas-
maze, and a high-striker hammer. We can provide carnivals to ketball courts as a gift to the community.
parks and recreation departments all around the region and for We do a lot working with church and neighborhood groups,
special events in our city. It's a win-win-win."and schools for activities and facilities of mutual interest to
In the revenue-generation column, a number of parks and reduce the impact on both parties and provide services to the
recreation,clepartments are reporting success with disc golf. Its community," says Downing. "We've done lawn bowling, bocce
supporters cite the relatively simple installation and maintenance ball and model sailboat races, and we're trying to work on some
of a system, and its versatility in different topographical venues. ultimate disc and lacrosse programs."
You don't need a real big area to generate a lot of revenue,Most recently, the city is partnering with a neighborhood
though a more wooded area seems to be a more popular venue. group, a business association and a skatepark construction corn-
We see on the weekend 250-300 people playing disc golf, and pany to renovate an existing skatepark(see Parks&Rec Business
it's becoming more popular," says Derek Tyler, assistant park magazine, August 2003, The Skatepark Decision). p&RB
www.parksandrecbusiness.com I July 2004 I PARKS&REC BUSINESS D
rpt12-t4 o
7/2-L. d
Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space
By Paul M. Sherer
Prepared for:
THE
TRUST
for
PUBLIC
LAND
116 New Montgomery Street/4th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-495-4014
www.tpl.org
2003 The Trust for Public Land 1 On the web at www.tpl.org
Table of Contents
Foreword: Will Rogers,President, Trust for Public Land 3
Executive Summary 4
America Needs More City Parks 6
U.S. Cities Are Park-Poor
Low-Income Neighborhoods Are Desperately Short of Park Space
Case Study:New Parks for Los Angeles
The-Public Wants More Parks
History of America's City Parks: Inspiration,Abandonment,Revival 9
The Decline of City Parks
A Revival Begins
Budget Crises Threaten City Parks
Public Health Benefits of City Parks and Open Space 12
Physical Activity Makes People Healthier
America's Twin Plagues: Physical Inactivity and Obesity
Access to Parks Increases Frequency of Exercise
Exposure to Nature and Greenery Makes People Healthier
Economic Benefits of Parks 15
Increased Property Values
Property Values in Low-Income Urban Areas
Property Values at the Edges of Urban Areas
Effects on Commercial Property Values
Economic Revitalization:Attracting and Retaining Businesses and Residents
Tourism Benefits
Environmental Benefits of Parks 20
Pollution Abatement and Cooling
Controlling Stormwater Runoff
Social Benefits of Parks 21
Reducing Crime
Recreation Opportunities: The Importance of Play
Creating Stable Neighborhoods with Strong Community
Conclusion 25
Bibliography 26
2003 The Trustfor Public Land 2 On the web at www.tpl.org
Forward
At the turn of the 20th century,the majority of Americans lived in rural areas and small
towns,relatively close to the land.At the beginning of the 21st century, 85 percent of us
were living in cities and metropolitan areas,and many of us are in desperate need of
places to experience nature and refresh ourselves in the out-of-doors.
The emergence of America as an urban nation was anticipated by Frederick Law Olmsted
and other 19th-century park visionaries,who gave us New York's Central Park, San
Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and similar grand parks in cities across the nation. They
were gardeners and designers—but also preachers for the power of parks, fired from
within by the understanding that they were shaping the quality of American lives for
generations to come.
In the view of these park visionaries,parks were not"amenities."They were necessities,
providing recreation,inspiration,and essential respite from the city's blare and bustle.
And the visionaries were particularly concerned that parks be available to all of a city's
residents—especially those who did not have the resources to escape to the countryside.
As population shifted to the suburbs after World War II,this vision of parks for all faded.
Many cities lost the resources to create new parks.And in the new suburbs,the sprawling
landscapes of curving cul-de-sacs were broken mostly by boxy shopping centers and
concrete parking lots.
The time has come for Americans to rededicate themselves to the vision of parks for all
the nation's people. As the nation's leading conservation group creating parks in and
around cities,the Trust for Public Land(TPL)has launched its Parks for People initiative
in the belief that every American child should enjoy convenient access to a nearby park
or playground.
This white paper outlines how desperate the need is for city parks—especially in inner-
city neighborhoods.And it goes on to describe the social,environmental,economic,and
health benefits parks bring to a city and its people. TPL hopes this paper will generate
discussion about the need for parks,prompt new research on the benefits of parks to
cities, and serve as a reference for government leaders and volunteers as they make the
case that parks are essential to the health and well-being of all Americans.
You will find more information about the need for city parks and their benefits in the
Parks for People section of TPL's Web site(www.tpl.org/pforp)where you can also sign-
up for Parks for People information and support TPL's Parks for People work.
TPL is proud to be highlighting the need for parks in America's cities. Thanks for joining
our effort to ensure a park within reach of every American home.
Will Rogers
President,the Trust for Public Land
0 2003 The Trust for Public Land 3 On the web at www.tpl.org
Executive Summary
City parks and open space improve our physical and psychological health,strengthen our
communities, and make our cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live and
work.
But too few Americans are able to enjoy these benefits.Eighty percent of Americans live
in metropolitan areas, and many of these areas are severely lacking in park space. Only
30 percent of Los Angeles residents live within walking distance of a nearby park.
Atlanta has no public green space larger than one-third of a square mile.
Low-income neighborhoods populated by minorities and recent immigrants are especially
short of park space. From an equity standpoint,there is a strong need to redress this
imbalance.In Los Angeles,white neighborhoods enjoy 31.8 acres of park space for every
1,000 people,compared with 1.7 acres in African-American neighborhoods and 0.6 acres
in Latino neighborhoods. This inequitable distribution of park space harms the residents
of these communities and creates substantial costs for the nation as a whole.
U.S.voters have repeatedly shown their willingness to raise their own taxes to pay for
new or improved parks. In 2002, 189 conservation funding measures appeared on ballots
in 28 states.Voters approved three-quarters of these,generating$10 billion in
conservation-related funding.
Many of the nation's great city parks were built in the second half of the 19th century.
Urban planners believed the parks would improve public health,relieve the stresses of
urban life,and create a democratizing public space where rich and poor would mix on
equal terms. By the mid-20th century, city parks fell into decline as people fled inner
cities for the suburbs. The suburbs fared no better, as people believed that backyards
would meet the requirement for public open space.
Over the past couple of decades,interest in city parks has revived. Governments and civic
groups around the country have revitalized run-down city parks,built greenways along
rivers, converted abandoned railroad lines to trails,and planted community gardens in
vacant lots.But with the current economic downturn, states and cities facing severe
budget crises are slashing their park spending,threatening the health of existing parks,
and curtailing the creation of new parks.
Strong evidence shows that when people have access to parks,they exercise more.
Regular physical activity has been shown to increase health and reduce the risk of a wide
range of diseases,including heart disease,hypertension, colon cancer, and diabetes.
Physical activity also relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety,improves mood, and
enhances psychological well-being.Beyond the benefits of exercise,a growing body of
research shows that contact with the natural world improves physical and psychological
health.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 4 On the web at www.tpl.org
Despite the importance of exercise,only 25 percent of American adults engage in the
recommended levels of physical activity, and 29 percent engage in no leisure-time
physical activity.The sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet of Americans have produced
an epidemic of obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called for the
creation of more parks and playgrounds to help fight this epidemic.
Numerous studies have shown that parks and open space increase the value of
neighboring residential property.Growing evidence points to a similar benefit on
commercial property value. The availability of park and recreation facilities is an
important quality-of-life factor for corporations choosing where to locate facilities and
for well-educated individuals choosing a place to live. City parks such as San Antonio's
Riverwalk Park often become important tourism draws, contributing heavily to local
businesses.
Green space in urban areas provides substantial environmental benefits. Trees reduce air
pollution and water pollution,they help keep cities cooler, and they are a more effective
and less expensive way to manage stormwater runoff than building systems of concrete
sewers and drainage ditches.
City parks also produce important social and community development benefits. They
make inner-city neighborhoods more livable;they offer recreational opportunities for at-
risk youth,low-income children, and low-income families;and they provide places in
low-income neighborhoods where people can feel a sense of community.Access to
public parks and recreational facilities has been strongly linked to reductions in crime and
in particular to reduced juvenile delinquency.
Community gardens increase residents' sense of community ownership and stewardship,
provide a focus for neighborhood activities,expose inner-city youth to nature,connect
people from diverse cultures,reduce crime by cleaning up vacant lots, and build
community leaders.
In light of these benefits,the Trust for Public Land calls for a revival of the city parks
movement of the late 19th century. We invite all Americans to join the effort to bring
parks, open spaces,and greenways into the nation's neighborhoods where everyone can
benefit from them.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 5 On the web at www.tpl.org
America Needs More City Parks
U.S.Cities Are Park-Poor
The residents of many U.S. cities lack adequate access to parks and open space near their
homes. In 2000, 80 percent of Americans were living in metropolitan areas,up from 48
percent in 1940.1 The park space in many of these metropolitan areas is grossly
inadequate.
In Atlanta, for example,parkland covers only 3.8 percent of the city's area.Atlanta has
no public green space larger than one-third of a square mile.2 The city has only 7.8 acres
of park space for every 1,000 residents,compared with a 19.1 acre average for other
medium-low population density cities.3 The story is much the same in Los Angeles, San
Jose,New Orleans, and Dallas.
Even in cities that have substantial park space as a whole,the residents of many
neighborhoods lack access to nearby parks.In New York City,for example,nearly half
of the city's 59 community board districts have less than 1.5 acres of parkland per 1,000
residents.
4
Low-Income Neighborhoods Are Desperately Short of Park Space
Low-income neighborhoods populated by minorities and recent immigrants are especially
short of park space. Minorities and the poor have historically been shunted off to live on
the wrong side of the tracks,in paved-over,industrialized areas with few public
amenities. From an equity standpoint,there is a strong need to redress this imbalance.
In Los Angeles,white neighborhoods(where whites make up 75 percent or more of the
residents)boast 31.8 acres of park space for every 1,000 people, compared with 1.7 acres
in African-American neighborhoods and 0.6 acres in Latino neighborhoods.
5
This inequitable distribution of park space harms the residents of these communities and
creates substantial costs to the nation as a whole. The health care costs alone are
potentially enormous. Lacking places for recreation,minorities and low-income
I Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops,Demographic Trends in the 20th Century(Washington,D.C.:U.S.
Census Bureau,November 2002),p.33,http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf.
2 Peter Harnik,The Excellent City Park System(San Francisco,Calif.:The Trust for Public Land,2003),p.
38.
3 Ibid.,p.37.
4 Conserving Open Space in New York State(New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
and Office of Parks,Recreation,and Historic Preservation,November 1995),p.73,cited in Diane
Resource at Risk(San Francisco:The Trust for PublicEnglander,New York's Community Garden.s—A
Land,2001),p.3,http://www.tpl.org/content_document/nyc_community_gardens.pdf
Stephanie Pincetl et al.,"Toward a Sustainable Los Angeles:A`Nature's Services'Approach"(Los
Angeles:University of Southern California,Center for Sustainable Cities,March 2003),p.36,
http://www.usc.eduldept/geography/ESPE/documents/report_haynes.pdf.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 6 On the web at www.tpl.org
individuals are significantly less likely than whites and high-income individuals to
engage in the regular physical activity that is crucial to good health.
Among non-Hispanic white adults in the United States, 34.9 percent engage in regular
leisure-time physical activity, compared with only 25.4 percent of non-Hispanic black
adults and 22.7 percent of Hispanic adults.6 And adults with incomes below the poverty
level are three times as likely as high-income adults to never be physically active.7
Even where the government or voters have allocated new money for park acquisition,
there is significant risk that wealthier and better-organized districts will grab more than
their fair share. The Los Angeles neighborhood of South Central—with the city's second-
highest poverty rate,highest share of children, and lowest access to nearby park space—
received only about half as much per-child parks funding as affluent West Los Angeles
from Proposition K between 1998 and 2000.8
Case Study: New Parks for Los Angeles
With 28,000 people crammed into its one square mile9 of low-rise buildings,the city of
Maywood in Los Angeles County is the most densely populated U.S. city outside the
New York City metropolitan area.
10
Its residents-96 percent are Hispanic and 37
percent are children—are often packed five to a bedroom,with entire families living in
garages and beds being used on a time-share basis.
The Trust for Public Land(TPL)has been working in Maywood since 1996 to purchase,
assemble, and convert six separate former industrial sites into a seven-acre riverside park.
The project will double Maywood's park space.11
6"Regular leisure-time physical activity"is defined as engaging in light to moderate leisure-time physical
activity for at least 30 minutes five or more times per week,or engaging in vigorous leisure-time physical
activity for at least 20 minutes three or more times per week.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CDC),"Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the 2002 National Health Interview
Survey"(Atlanta:CDC,National Center for Health Statistics,June,2003),
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/200306 07.pdf.
7 High-income adults are defined as those with incomes four or more times the poverty level.Patricia M.
Barnes and Charlotte A.Schoenborn,"Physical Activity Among Adults:United States,2000,"Advance
Data from Vital and Health Statistics(Atlanta:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National
Center for Health Statistics,May 14,2003),p.6,http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad333.pdf.
8 Park bond measure Proposition K,passed by Los Angeles voters in 1996,allocates$25 million per year to
acquire new parks and improve existing ones.Jennifer Wolch,John P.Wilson,and Jed Fehrenbach,"Parks
and Park Funding in Los Angeles:An Equity Mapping Analysis"(Los Angeles:University of Southern
California,Sustainable Cities Program,GIS Research Laboratory,May 2002),p.28,
ceres.ca.gov/biodiversity/Meetings/archive/ej/USC.pdf.
9 City of Maywood,California,"About Maywood,"2003,http://www.cityof
maywood.com/home/aboutMaywood.cfm?sec=home&subSec=about.
1°U.S.Census Bureau,"Population,Housing Units,Area,and Density(geographies ranked by total
population):2000"(Washington,D.C.:U.S.Census
Bureau),factfinder.census.go v/servlet/GCTTable?ds_name=D&geo_id=D&mt_name=DEC_2002_SF 1_U_
GCTPH1R_US13S& Lang=en.
The Trust for Public Land,"Maywood Riverfront Park Project"
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content item_id=5848&folder_id=1525.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 7 On the web at www.tpl.org
Before TPL began its work,the future park site was occupied by abandoned warehouses
and industrial buildings, covered in garbage, graffiti,rusted metal, and barrels of
industrial waste.Until the late 1980s,the parcels contained a glue factory, a transfer
facility for solvents, and a truck service facility; one parcel was designated an
Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site.12
TPL is preparing to acquire the final parcel and has developed preliminary designs for the
site. The completed park will invite Maywood's residents to gather at its picnic benches,
stroll its walking trails,relax on its lawns, and play with their children in its tot lot.
The Maywood project is a precursor of TPL's Parks for People—Los Angeles program,
an ambitious new effort to create parks where they are most desperately needed.
The case for more parks in Los Angeles is among the most compelling of any American
city today.Only 30 percent of its residents live within a quarter mile of a park, compared
with between 80 percent and 90 percent in Boston and New York,respectively.13 If these
residents are Latino,African American, or Asian Pacific,they have even less access to
green space.
TPL has set a goal of creating 25 new open space projects in Los Angeles over the next
five years. TPL believes that a significant percentage of public park funding should be
invested in underserved minority communities. To accomplish this goal, TPL will help
these communities through the gauntlets of public and private fundraising,real estate
transactions,strategic planning,and stewardship issues.
Los Angeles is also the site of TPL's first application of Geographical Information
Systems(GIS)to assess the need for parks.TPL launched the GIS program in late 2001
in Los Angeles and has since expanded the program to New York,Las Vegas, Boston,
Charlotte,Miami, and Camden and Newark,New Jersey. TPL's GIS system uses census,
demographic and other data to map out areas of high population, concentrated poverty,
and lack of access to park space.
With GIS technology,TPL can now pinpoint the areas of fastest population growth, study
landownership patterns,and acquire key parcels before development demand drives up
property prices or destroys open space.Further,GIS helps TPL create contiguous park
space,protecting natural habitats and connecting larger parks with linear greenways,
rather than create a patchwork quilt of open space.
14
12 Larry Kaplan,director of Los Angeles Office,The Trust for Public Land,interview by author,June 26,
2003.
13 TPL Greenprinting analysis for Los Angeles,2003,obtained from Ted Harrison,senior vice president,
The Trust for Public Land,interview by author,June 27,2003.
14 ibid.
2003 The Trustfor Public Land 8 On the web at www.tpl.org
The Public Wants More Parks
Voters have repeatedly shown their willingness to raise their own taxes to pay for new or
improved parks.In the November 2002 elections,voters in 93 communities in 22 states
approved ballot measures that committed$2.9 billion to acquire and restore land for
parks and open space.Voters approved 85 percent of such referendums in these
elections.15 Voter support in 2002 increased from the already strong 75 percent approval
rate for similar measures in November 2001.16
History of America's City Parks: Inspiration, Abandonment, Revival
During the second half of the 19th century,American cities built grand city parks to
improve their residents' quality of life.Dubbed 19`h-century pleasure grounds by park
historians,the parks include New York's Central Park and San Francisco's Golden Gate
Park.
Municipal officials of the time saw these parks as a refuge from the crowded,polluted,
stressful cities—places where citizens could experience fresh air, sunshine, and the
spiritually transforming power of nature; a place for recreation;and a democratizing
public space where rich and poor would mix on equal terms.
The new parks were inspired by"an anti-urban ideal that dwelt on the traditional
prescription for relief from the evils of the cityto escape to the country,"Galen Cranz
writes. "The new American parks thus were conceived as great pleasure grounds meant to
be pieces of the country,with fresh air,meadows, lakes,and sunshine right in the city."
17
The Decline of City Parks
Beginning in the Great Depression and continuing through much of the 20th century,
spending on city parks declined. The well-to-do and white abandoned the cities for the
suburbs,taking public funding with them. Cities and their parks fell into a spiral of decay.
Cities cut park maintenance funds,parks deteriorated,and crime rose; many city dwellers
came to view places like Central Park as too dangerous to visit.18
The suburbs that mushroomed at the edges of major cities were often built with little
public park space. For residents of these areas, a trip out of the house means a drive to the
shopping mall.
t6 Land Trust Affiance,"Voters Approve$2.9 Billion for Land Conservation,"press release,November 6,
2002,updated January 31,2003,http://www.lta.org/newsroom/pr_110602.htm.
16 The Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance,LandVote 2002,January 2003,p. 1,
http://www.tpl.org/landvote.
17 Galen Cranz,The Politics of Park Design:A History of Urban Parks in America(Cambridge,Mass.:
MTT Press,1982),pp.3-5.
18Ibid., pp. 175-176.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 9 On the web at www.tpl.org
Beginning around 1990,many city and town councils began forcing developers to add
open space to their projects. Still,these open spaces are often effectively off-limits to the
general public; in the vast sprawl around Las Vegas, for example,the newer subdivisions
often have open space at their centers,but these spaces are hidden inside a labyrinth of
winding streets. Residents of older, low-and middle-income neighborhoods have to get
in their cars(if they have one) and drive to find recreation space.19
A Revival Begins
More recently, city parks have experienced something of a renaissance which has
benefited cities unequally. The trend began in the 1970s and flourished in the 1990s as
part of a general renewal of urban areas funded by a strong economy.It coincided with a
philosophical shift in urban planning away from designing around the automobile and a
backlash against the alienating modernism of mid-20th-century public architecture, in
favor of public spaces that welcome and engage the community in general and the
pedestrian in particular.
Government authorities, civic groups, and private agencies around the country have
worked together to revitalize run-down city parks,build greenways along formerly
polluted rivers, convert abandoned railroad lines to trails, and plant community gardens
in vacant lots.
The Park at Post Office Square in Boston shows how even a small but well-designed
open space can transform its surroundings. Before work on the park began in the late
1980s,the square was filled by an exceptionally ugly concrete parking garage,blighting
an important part of the financial district. Many buildings on the square shifted their
entrances and addresses to other streets not facing the square.20
Completed in 1992,the 1.7-acre park is considered one of the most beautiful city parks in
the United States. Its immaculate landscapingwith 125 species of plants,flowers,
bushes, and trees—its half-acre lawn, its fountains, and its teak and granite benches lure
throngs of workers during lunchtime on warm days. Hidden underneath is a seven-floor
parking garage for 1,400 cars,which provides financial support for the park.21
It clearly,without any question, has enhanced and changed the entire neighborhood,"
says Serge Denis,managing director of Le Meridien Hotel Boston,which borders the
park. "It's absolutely gorgeous."Not surprisingly,rooms overlooking the park command
a premium.22
Yet despite such success stories, local communities often lack the transactional and
development skills to effectively acquire property and convert it into park space. TPL
19 Harrison,interview by author.
20 Alexander Garvin and Gayle Berens,Urban Parks and Open Space(Washington,D.C.:Urban Land
Institute, 1997),pp. 146-157.
21 Ibid.
22 Serge Denis,managing director of Le Meridien Hotel Boston,interview by author,June 30,2003.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 10 On the web at www.tpl.org
serves a vital role in this capacity,working closely with local governments and
community residents to determine where parks are needed;to help develop funding
strategies;to negotiate and acquire property;to plan the park and develop it;and finally,
to turn it over to the public.
Between 1971 and 2002,the Trust for Public Land's work in cities resulted in the
acquisition of 532 properties totaling 40,754 acres. In the nation's 50 largest cities TPL
acquired 138 properties totaling 7,640 acres.23
Budget Crises Threaten City Parks
In the wake of the bursting of the economic bubble of the late 1990s, states and cities
facing severe budget crises are slashing their park spending. With a projected$2.4 billion
budget shortfall in the two-year period beginning July 2003,Minnesota has cut its aid to
local governments,hurting city park systems across the state. The Minneapolis Park&
Recreation Board, confronting a 20 percent cut in its funding through 2004,has been
forced to respond by deferring maintenance,closing wading pools and beaches,providing
fewer portable toilets, and reducing its mounted police patrol program. The required
program cuts"represent a huge loss to the Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board and to
the children of Minneapolis,"says Park Board Superintendent Mary Merrill Anderson.24
When Georgia's state legislature went into session in January 2003, lawmakers found
themselves grappling with a$650 million budget shortfall.Part of their response was to
eliminate the planned$30 million in fiscal 2003 funding for the Georgia Community
Greenspace Program, after appropriating$30 million per fiscal year in 2001 and 2002.
The legislature also cut the 2004 budget from$30 million to $10 million.The program
helps the state's fastest-growing counties set aside adequate green space—at least 20
percent of their land—amid all the new subdivisions and strip malls. Most of the affected
counties are around Atlanta, among the nation's worst examples of urban sprawl.
For legislators hunting for budget-cutting targets, Georgia's$30 million Community
Greenspace Program"was like a buffalo in the middle of a group of chickens,"says
David Swann,program director for TPL's Atlanta office. The cut"makes a compelling
argument that we need a dedicated funding source,so that green space acquisition isn't
depending on fiscal cycles and the legislature."25
The federal government has also cut its city parks spending. In 1978,the federal
government established the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery(UPARR)program to
help urban areas rehabilitate their recreational facilities. The program received no funding
23 Peter Harnik,director of Green Cities Program,The Trust for Public Land,e-mail correspondence with
author.
24 Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board,"Park Board Passes 2003 Budget Cuts,"press release, March 20,
2003,http://www.minneapolisparks.org/forms/about/pr_toc.asp?prid=135.
25 David Swann,program director,The Trust for Public Land,interview by author,June 27,2003.See also
Georgia Community Greenspace Program,Georgia Department of Natural Resources,"Report of Progress
for Fiscal Year 2003,"January 31,2003,http://www.state.ga.us/dnr/greenspace/pdfs/annual_report.pdf.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 11 On the web at www.tpLorg
in fiscal year 2003,down from$28.9 million in both 2001 and 2002.26 President Bush's
budget proposal for fiscal 2004 also allocates no UPARR funding.
Public Health Benefits of City Parks and Open Space
Physical Activity Makes People Healthier
A comprehensive 1996 report by the U.S. Surgeon General found that people who engage
in regular physical activity benefit from reduced risk of premature death;reduced risk of
coronary heart disease,hypertension, colon cancer, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes;
improved maintenance of muscle strength,joint structure, and joint function;weight loss
and favorable redistribution of body fat;improved physical functioning in persons
suffering from poor health; and healthier cardiovascular,respiratory,and endocrine
systems.27
Americans can substantially improve their health and quality of life by including
moderate amounts of physical activity in their daily lives,"the report found.It also found
that"health benefits appear to be proportional to the amount of activity;thus, every
increase in activity adds some benefit.s28
Physical activity also produces important psychological benefits, the Surgeon General
found.It relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety,improves mood, and enhances
psychological well-being.29
America's Twin Plagues: Physical Inactivity and Obesity
Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, only 25 percent of American adults
engage in the recommended levels of physical activity,and 29 percent engage in no
leisure-time physical activity,according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention(CDC). The problem extends to children: only 27 percent of students in
grades 9 through 12 engage in moderate-to-intensive physical activity.
3°
The sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy American diet have produced an epidemic of
obesity.Among U.S. adults between 20 and 74 years old, 27 percent were obese in 1999,
nearly double the 15 percent obesity rate in 1980, according to the CDC. Similarly,the
percentage of children and adolescents who are overweight has more than doubled since
26 National Park Service,"Urban Park and Recreation Recovery,"www.nps.gov/uprr/program inbrief html.
27 CDC,"Surgeon General,"Physical Activity and Health:A Report of the Surgeon General(Atlanta:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion,1996),pp.4-8,http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/pdfisgrfull.pdf.
28Ibid.,p.3.
29Ibid.,p.8.
3o CDC,"Increasing Physical Activity,"Increasing Physical Activity:A Report on Recommendations of the
Task Force on Community Preventive Services(Atlanta:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
October 26,2001),p. 1,http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5018a1.htm.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 12 On the web at www.tpl.org
the early 1970s; about 13 percent of children and adolescents are now seriously
overweight
31
Obese people suffer increased risk of high blood pressure,hypertension,high blood
cholesterol,non-insulin-dependent diabetes, coronary heart disease, congestive heart
failure,stroke,gallstones, osteoarthritis, some types of cancer(such as endometrial,
breast,prostate, and colon), complications of pregnancy,poor female reproductive health
such as menstrual irregularities,infertility, and irregular ovulation), and bladder control
problems. They also suffer great risk of psychological problems such as depression,
eating disorders, distorted body image, and low self-esteem.
32
Access to Parks Increases Frequency of Exercise
Strong evidence shows that when people have access to parks,they exercise..more_In a
study published by the CDC, creation of or enhanced access to places for physical
activity led to a 25.6 percent increase in the percentage of people exercising on three or
more days per week.
33
A group of studies reviewed in the American Journal ofPreventive Medicine showed that
creation of or enhanced access to places for physical activity combined with
informational outreach"produced a 48.4 percent increase in frequency of physical
activity.
34
The same group of studies showed that access to a place to exercise results in a 5.1
percent median increase in aerobic capacity,along with a reduction in body fat,weight
loss, improvements in flexibility, and an increase in perceived energy.
35
When people have nowhere to walk,they gain weight. Obesity is more likely in
unwalkable neighborhoods,but goes down when measures of walkability go up: dense
housing,well-connected streets, and mixed landuses reduce the probability that residents
will be obese. 36
Exposure to Nature and Greenery Makes People Healthier
Beyond the recreational opportunities offered by parks, a growing body of research
shows that contact with the natural world improves physical and psychological health.
31 CDC,"Defining Overweight and Obesity,"http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/defining.htm.
32 CDC,"Health Consequences,"www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/consequences.htm.
33 CDC,"Increasing Physical Activity,"p. 11.
34
Emily B.Kahn et al.and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services,"The Effectiveness of
Interventions to Increase Physical Activity,"American Journal ofPreventive Medicine 22,no.4S(2002):
pp.87-88.
35lbid.
36 Dr.Lawrence Frank(findings from SMARTRAQ study in Atlanta presented at the Congress for the New
Urbanism,Washington,D.C.,June 19,2003).
2003 The Trust for Public Land 13 On the web at www.tpl.org
One important study reviewed the recoveries of surgical patients in a Pennsylvania
hospital. The rooms of some patients overlooked a stand of trees,while others faced a
brown brick wall.A review of ten years of medical records showed that patients with tree
views had shorter hospitalizations, less need for painkillers,and fewer negative
comments in the nurses' notes, compared with patients with brick-wall views.
37
The benefits extend to psychological health. "The concept that plants have a role in
mental health is well established,"according to a review of previous studies by Howard
Frumkin in the American Journal ofPreventive Medicine. "Horticultural therapy evolved
as a form of mental health treatment,based on the therapeutic effects of gardening. It is
also used today in community-based programs,geriatrics prog.rams,prisons,
developmental disabilities programs, and special education.s3
Further,"research on recreational activities has shown that savanna-like settings are
associated with self-reported feelings of`peacefulness,' `tranquility,' or`relaxation,"'
Frumkin writes. "Viewing such settings leads to decreased fear and anger...[and] is
associated with enhanced mental alertness,attention, and cognitive performance, as
measured by tasks such as proofreading and by formal psychological testing."
39
An extensive study published in 2001 in the Netherlands set out to determine the link
between green space and health.The study overlaid two extensive databases,one with
health information on more than 10,000 residents of the Netherlands,and the other a
landuse database covering every 25-by-25-meter square in the nation,allowing
researchers to know which people lived near city parks, agricultural land, and forests and
nature areas.40
The study produced several key findings.First,"in a greener environment people report
fewer health complaints,more often rate themselves as being in good health,and have
better mental health,"the study found. Second, "when it comes to health, all types of
green seem to be equally 'effective";the study found the same benefit from living near
city parks, agricultural areas, and forest 41
A ten percent increase in nearby greenspace was found to decrease a person's health
complaints in an amount equivalent to a five year reduction in that person's age.
37 R.S.Ulrich,"View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery,"Science 224(1984):
42021,cited in Howard Frumkin,"Beyond Toxicity:Human Health and the Natural Environment,
American Journal ofPreventive Medicine20,no.3,(2001):p.237.
38 Ibid.,p.236.
39 Ibid.,p.237.
4°
Sjerp de Vries,Robert A.Verheij,and Peter P.Groenewegen,"Nature and Health:The Relation
between Health and Green Space in People's Living Environment"(paper presented at the conference
Cultural Events and Leisure Systems,"Amsterdam,the Netherlands,April 2001).
41 Ibid.
2003 The Trustfor Public Land 14 On the web at www.tpl.org
Important theoretical foundations were laid in this area by Harvard biologist Edward O.
Wilson,who in 1984 hypothesized the existence of biophilia,"the innately emotional
affiliation of human beings to other living organisms.''42
Others have extended this idea to postulate"an affinity for nature that goes beyond living
things,to include streams,ocean waves, and wind."43 This affinity may stem from
evolutionary roots: "For the great majority of human existence, human biology has been
embedded in the natural environment,"Frumkin writes. "Those who could smell the
water,find the plants, follow the animals, and recognize the safe havens,must have
enjoyed survival advantages."
44
Economic Benefits of Parks
Increased Property Values
The real estate market consistently demonstrates that many people are willing to pay a
larger amount for a property located close to parks and open space areas than for a home
that does not offer this amenity,"writes John L. Crompton,a professor at Texas A&M
University who has published extensive research on parks and recreation.45
In his 2000 report, Crompton reviewed 25 studies investigating whether parks and open
space contributed to property values of neighboring properties, and found that 20 of the
results indicated such an increase.46
The higher value of these homes means that their owners pay higher property taxes. In
some instances,the additional property taxes are sufficient to pay the annual debt charges
on the bonds used to finance the park's acquisition and development. "In these cases,the
park is obtained at no long-term cost to the jurisdiction,"Crompton writes
47
Repeated studies over the years have confirmed that people prefer to buy homes close to
parks, open space, and greenery. One key study looked at the effect of proximity to
greenbelts in Boulder, Colorado. The study showed that, other things being equal,there
was a$4.20 decrease in the price of residential property for every foot one moved away
from the greenbelt, and that the average value of homes next to the greenbelt was 32
percent higher than those 3,200 feet away.
48
42 Edward O.Wilson,Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species(Cambridge,Mass.:Harvard
University Press, 1984),cited in Frumkin,"Beyond Toxicity," p.235.
43 ibid.
44 Ibid.
45 John L.Crompton,The Impact ofParks and Open Space on Property Values and the Property Tax Base
Ashburn,Va.:National Recreation and Park Association,2000),p. 1.
46 Ibid.,p.2.
47 Ibid.
48 Mark R.Correll,Jane H.Lillydahl,and Larry D.Singell,"The Effect of Greenbelts on Residential
Property Values:Some Findings on the Political Economy of Open Space,"Land Economics, May 1978,
cited in National Park Service,"Economic Impacts,"Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails, and
2003 The Trust for Public Land 15 On the web at www.tpl.org
The same study showed that the greenbelt added$5.4 million to the total property values
of one neighborhood. That generated$500,000 per year in additional potential property
taxes,enough to cover the$1.5 million purchase price of the greenbelt in only three
years
49
In a 2001 survey conducted for the National Association of Realtors by Public Opinion
Strategies, 50 percent of respondents said they would be willing to pay 10 percent more
for a house located near a park or other protected open space.In the same survey, 57
percent of respondents said that if they were in the market to buy a new home,they
would be more likely to select one neighborhood over another if it was close to parks and
open space.50
In this time of budget austerity,one point is crucial:to protect the positive economic
impact of parks,the parks must be well maintained and secure.A park that is dangerous
and ill kept is likely to hurt the value of nearby homes.51
Property Values in Low-Income Urban Areas
A University of Southern California study found that the positive relationship between
park proximity and property value holds true in neighborhoods where the residents are
mostly immigrants and poor.In a dense urban neighborhood,the value effect of nearby
green space can be stronger than lot size itself. The study found that an 11 percent
increase in the amount of green space within a radius of 200 to 500 feet from a house
leads to an approximate increase of 1.5 percent in the expected sales price of the house,
or an additional$3,440 in the median price.52
Because of the increased property value,the study found that the$200,000 purchase of a
one-third-acre lot for creation of a small park would yield additional property tax
revenues of$13,000 per year. These tax revenue increases would pay for the park's cost
in about 15 years with no additional taxes
53
Property Values at the Edges of Urban Areas
As farmland and forests are swallowed up at the edges of fast-growing cities,some
subdivision developers have come to realize that preserving open or natural space within
a new community can increase the value of the home lots. One subdivision designer calls
Greenway Corridors,4th ed.,(Washington,D.C.:National Park Service, 1995),p. 14,
http://www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca/econ_all.pdf.
49 Ibid.,p. 19.
5o National Association of Realtors,"NAR Survey Shows Public Support for Open Space Depends on Use
and Cost,"press release,April 25,2001,
http://www.realtor.org/SmartGrowth2.nsf/Pages/mngrtpresss urvey?OpenDocument.
51 Crompton,The Impact of Parks and Open Space on Property Values and the Property Tax Base,pp. 14-
15.
52 Pincetl et al.,"Toward a Sustainable Los Angeles,"pp.33-35.
53 Ibid.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 16 On the web at www.tpl.org
the concept"conservation subdivision design" and advocates designing around and
preserving natural and rustic features such as meadows, orchards,fields and pastures,
stream valley habitat, and woodlands.54
Effects on Commercial Property Values
Its name is Bryant Park,but by 1980,the 133-year-old square behind the New York
Public Library was known as"Needle Park,"for the drug dealers who plied their trade
behind its spiked iron fence and thick shrubbery.With an average of 150 robberies a year
in Bryant Park,citizens entered at their peril.
But after a 12-year renovation,the park reopened in 1992,becoming the site of major
fashion shows, a jazz festival,outdoor movies, and an outdoor café, and attracting
thousands of visitors each day.Within two years of the reopening, leasing activity on
neighboring Sixth Avenue had increased 60 percent over the previous year,with brokers
referring to the park as the"deal-clincher."55
The park revived demand for space in neighboring office buildings. Between 1990 and
2000,rents for commercial office space near Bryant Park increased between 115 percent
and 225 percent, compared with increases of between 41 percent and 73 percent in the
surrounding submarkets,according to a study conducted by Ernst&Young.The same
report,which analyzed 36 neighborhood parks in all five boroughs of New York City,
concluded that"commercial asking rents,residential sale prices, and assessed values for
properties near a well-improved park generally exceeded rents in surrounding
submarkets."56
A similar story played out in Atlanta,where Centennial Olympic Park was built as the
central space for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Property value in the immediate area was
2 per square foot in the early 1980s;by the end of the 1990s,that value had risen to
150 per square foot.57
Economic Revitalization:Attracting and Retaining Businesses and Residents
In May 2001,Boeing Co. announced its decision for the location of its new corporate
headquarters,after a heated three-way battle among Chicago,Dallas, and Denver. In
choosing Chicago,Boeing officials cited, among other reasons,the city's quality of life,
including recreation opportunities, its downtown, and urban life.58
54 Randall Arendt,"Enhancing Subdivision Value through Conservation Design,"Common Ground
National Association of Realtors),(summer 2001),
http://www.realtor.org/SmarthGrowt2.nsf/Pages/enhansubdiv inions?OpenDocument.
55 Garvin and Berens, Urban Parks and Open Space,pp.44-57.
56 New Yorkers for Parks and Ernst&Young,How Smart Parks Investment Pays Its Way,executive
summary(New York:New Yorkers for Parks and Ernst&Young LLP,June 2003),p.5.
57 Peter Harnik,Inside City Parks(Washington,D.C.:Urban Land Institute,2000),p.xiv.
58 Dave Michaels,"Panel Backs Aid for Downtown,Victory;Task Force Pushes Tax Dollars for Projects,
Asks Developers to Cooperate,"Dallas Morning News,January 24,2002;and John Warner,head of
2003 The Trust for Public Land 17 On the web at www.tpl.org
The choice sent Dallas into a long-overdue bout of introspection. Dallas took a good hard
look at itself and decided it needed more downtown park space. "The Boeing relocation
had a profound impact on people's attitude toward the quality of life in our city in
general, and the quality of our downtown environment in particular,"says Willis Winters
of the Dallas Park and Recreation Depai tinent.59
Downtown Dallas is ringed by highways and lined with office towers—with estimated
vacancy rates of more than 30 percent—but bereft of green space.
I have winced over the demise of downtown over the years,and I believe that its
renaissance has to come through housing,"says Ken Hughes,a major Dallas developer
who has been working on downtown green space plans. "I don't believe people, on a
permanent basis,want to live in an environment where they have no refuge from the
hardness of downtown city buildings, without having any place to go out and stroll,take
your dog,or just enjoy some sun."6°
Three months after Boeing's decision,then Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk appointed a ten-
person task force to study ways to revitalize downtown Dallas61 The task force delivered
its findings in January 2002. Among its top recommendations:"Dramatically expand new
parks and open spaces."
62
Laura Miller was elected mayor the following month and appointed the Inside the Loop
Committee,which came to a similar conclusion. Working with the Park and Recreation
Department,she has promoted plans to create new downtown parks for Dallas,which is
the nation's eighth-largest city. On July 10,2003, consultants named four potential
downtown park sites as the most promising among 17 proposed.fi3 TPL has been in
discussions since early 2003 with city officials, developers,and property owners about
acquiring key parcels.
In using green space to revitalize itself,Dallas is following a tried-and-true model. The
green space surrounding Portland, Oregon, helped build its reputation as one of the
country's most livable cities. Companies like Hewlett-Packard,Intel, and Hyundai have
Boeing's site selection committee,cited in Bob Cox et al.,"Boeing to Move Headquarters to Chicago,"
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,May 11,2001.
59 Willis Winters,assistant director for planning,design,and construction at the Dallas Park and
Recreation Department and project manager for the Downtown Parks Master Plan,interview by author,
July 14,2003.
6o Ken Hughes,president of United Commercial Urban Centers,interview by author,July 14,2003.
61 Michaels,"Panel Backs Aid for Downtown";and Warner cited in Cox et al.,`Boeing to Move
Headquarters to Chicago."
62 mid.
63 Victoria Loe Hicks,"44-acre Park Plan Unveiled for Downtown Dallas,"Dallas Morning News,July 11,
2003.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 18 On the web at www.tpl.org
been drawn to the region by the forests, orchards, and creeks on the outskirts of
Portland's urban area.
Quality of life is a determining factor in real estate values and economic vitality. A 1998
real estate industry report calls livability"a litmus test for determining the strength of the
real estate investment market.... If people want to live in a place, companies, stores,
hotels,and apartments will follow."65
A vice president at computer giant Dell Corp. in Austin,Texas, observed, "People
working in high-tech companies are used to there being a high quality of life in the
metropolitan areas in which they live. When we at Dell go and recruit in those areas,we
have to be able to demonstrate to them that the quality of life in Austin is at least
comparable or they won't come."66
In Missouri and Illinois, civic leaders led by Missouri Senator John Danforth have used
the upcoming 2004 bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to launch an
ambitious effort to revitalize St. Louis and the nearby region, in a program called St.
Louis 2004. Improving quality of life is a major goal,with a central emphasis on keeping
well-educated young people in the region.
As a cornerstone of the plan,Missouri and Illinois are working to create the Confluence
Greenway.The Greenway will cover a 200-square-mile area in five counties on both
sides of the Mississippi River,stretching 40 miles from downtown St.Louis to the
confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers near Grafton,Illinois. The Greenway
traces the first stretch of the Louis and Clark Expedition. In November 2000,voters
passed Proposition C, enacting a one-tenth of one-cent sales tax to generate$23.5 million
annually for parks and open space improvements in the region.67
TPL is actively involved in the project.It helped the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources acquire 2,000 acres of land on Gabaret Island and Mosenthein Island on the
Mississippi River. TPL also acquired and turned over to the government a 119-acre
parcel in St. Louis that will serve as home for the Great River Resource Center, a regional
educational and interpretive center 68
64 Steve Lerner and William Poole,The Economic Benefits ofParks and Open Space(San Francisco:The
Trust for Public Land, 1999),p.42,
http://www.tpl.org/tier3 cdl.cfm?content_item_id=1145&folder_id=727.
65 ERE Yarmouth and Real Estate Research Corp.,"Defining New Limits:Emerging Trends in Real
Estate,"cited in ibid.,p. 15.
66 John L.Crompton,Strategic Options Available to the Trust for Public Land in Texas 2000-2004(Austin,
Texas:The Trust for Public Land, 1999),p.8,cited in John L.Crompton,Parks and Economic
Development(Chicago:American Planning Association,2001),p.52.
67 St.Louis 2004,"Clean Water,Safe Parks&Community Trails,"
http://www.stlouis2004.org/html/ap_cleanwater.htm1
68 The Trust for Public Land,"Land for Great River Resource Center Acquired by New Park District,"
press release,March 28,2002,.http://www.stlouis2004.org/html/newsreleases/archive/2002/3-28-02 Land
Acquired for Resource Center.htm.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 19 On the web at www.tpl.org
Tourism Benefits
A park often becomes one of a city's signature attractions, a prime marketing tool to
attract tourists, conventions, and businesses. Parks such as the Boston Public Garden,
Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and Minneapolis's Chain of Lakes Regional Park help shape
city identity and give residents pride of place.
Chain of Lakes received 5.5 million visitors in 2001,making it Minnesota's second-
biggest attraction after the Mall of America.69 And San Antonio's Riverwalk Park,
created for$425,000,has overtaken the Alamo as the most popular attraction for the
city's$3.5 billion tourism industry.70
Organized events held in public parks—arts festivals,athletic events,food festivals,
musical and theatrical events--often bring substantial positive economic impacts to their
communities, filling hotel rooms and restaurants and bringing customers to local stores.71
Environmental Benefits of Parks
Pollution Abatement and Cooling
Green space in urban areas provides substantial environmental benefits.The U.S.Forest
Service calculated that over a 50-year lifetime one tree generates$31,250 worth of
oxygen,provides$62,000 worth of air pollution control,recycles$37,500 worth of water,
and controls$31,250 worth of soil erosion.72
Trees in New York City removed an estimated 1,821 metric tons of air pollution in 1994.
In an area with 100 percent tree cover(such as contiguous forest stands within parks),
trees can remove from the air as much as 15 percent of the ozone, 14 percent of the sulfur
dioxide, 13 percent of the particulate matter, 8 percent of the nitrogen dioxide, and 0.05
percent of the carbon monoxide.73
Trees and the soil under them also act as natural filters for water pollution. Their leaves,
trunks,roots, and associated soil remove polluted particulate matter from the water before
69Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board,"2003-2004 Impacts of the Governor's Proposed Budget Cuts"
Minneapolis:Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board,2003),
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/about budget_packet.pdf.
7°Megan Lewis,"How Cities Use Parks for Economic Development,"City Parks Forum Briefing Papers
Chicago:American Planning Association,
2002),http://www.planning.org/cpf/pdf/economicdevelopment.pdf.
71 Crompton,Parks and Economic Development,pp.31-48.
72 U.S.Department of Agriculture,Forest Service Pamphlet#R1-92-100,cited in"Benefits of Trees in
Urban Areas,"Colorado Tree Coalition,http://www.coloradotrees.org/.
73 David J.Nowak,"The Effects of Urban Trees on Air Quality"(Washington,D.C.:U.S.Department of
Agriculture Forest Service),http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/syracuse/gif/trees.pdf.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 20 On the web at www.tplorg
it reaches storm sewers. Trees also absorb nutrients created by human activity, such as
nitrogen,phosphorus, and potassium,which otherwise pollute streams and lakes.74
Trees also act as natural air conditioners to help keep cities cooler,mitigating the effects
of concrete and glass that can turn cities into ovens under the summer sun.The
evaporation from a single large tree can produce the cooling effect of ten room-size air
conditioners operating 24 hours a day.75
Controlling StormwaterxRoff
Trees more effectively and less expensively manage the flow of stormwater runoff than
do concrete sewers and drainage ditches. Runoff problems occur because cities are
covered with impervious surfaces such as roads,sidewalks,parking lots, and rooftops,
which prevent water from soaking into the ground. Trees intercept rainfall,and unpaved
areas absorb water, slowing the rate at which it reaches stormwater facilities. "By.
incorporating trees into a city's infrastructure,managers can build a smaller,less
expensive stormwater management system,"according to American Forests Urban
Resource Center.76
Garland,Texas,used an innovative method to encourage private-property owners to plant
more trees.It mapped all the impervious surfaces in the city and then changed the
formula for charging stormwater fees to property owners.Instead of tying the fee to
property value or charging a flat fee,the city now bases the fee on the property's
impervious surface and the volume of stormwater the property generates.An analysis
showed that Garland's tree cover saves it from having to handle an additional 19 million
cubic feet of stormwater.Building facilities to handle that stormwater would cost$38
million.''
American Forests(a conservation organization)estimates that trees in the nation's
metropolitan areas save the cities$400 billion in the cost of building stormwater retention
facilities.78 Yet natural tree cover has declined by as much as 30 percent in many cities
over the last several decades.79
Social Benefits of Parks
74 Jeff Beattie,Cheryl Kollin,and Gary Moll,"Trees Help Cities Meet Clean Water Regulations,"
American Forests(summer 2000),p. 18,
http://www.americanforests.org/download s/graytogreen/treeshelpcitie s.pdf.
75 U.S.Department of Agriculture,Forest Service Pamphlet#FS-363,cited in"Benefits of Trees in Urban
Areas,"Colorado Tree Coalition,http://www.coloradotrees.org/.
76 Beattie,Knollin,and Moll,"Trees Help Cities Meet Clean Water Regulations,"p. 18.
77 Ibid.,p. 19.
78"The State of the Urban Forest:Assessing Tree Cover and Developing Goals,"American Forests,
September 1997,cited in Lerner and Poole,The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space,p.42.
79"Urban Forests—Trees Working Where People Do,"American Forests,
http://www.americanforests.org/graytogreen/.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 21 On the web at www.tpl.org
Among the most important benefits of city parksthough perhaps the hardest to
quantify—is their role as community development tools. City parks make inner-city
neighborhoods more livable; they offer recreational opportunities for at-risk youth, low-
income children, and low-income families; and they provide places in low-income
neighborhoods where people can experience a sense of community.
Reducing Crime
Access to public parks and recreational facilities has been strongly linked to reductions in
crime and in particular to reduced juvenile delinquency.
Recreational facilities keep at-risk youth off the streets, give them a safe environment to
interact with their peers,and fill up time within which they could otherwise get into
trouble.80
In Fort Myers,Florida,police documented a 28 percent drop in juvenile arrests after the
city began the STARS (Success Through Academics and Recreational Support)Program
in 1990. Fort Myers built a new recreation center in the heart of a low-income community
to support STARS. Young people's school grades also improved significantly.
81
Importantly,building parks costs a fraction of what it costs to build new prisons and
increase police-force size.
Many communities have reported success with"midnight basketball"programs, keeping
courts open late at night to give youths an alternative to fording trouble. Over a one-year
period, Kansas City reported a 25 percent decrease in arrests of juveniles in areas where
midnight basketball programs were offered.In Fort Worth,Texas, crime dropped 28
percent within a one-mile radius of community centers where midnight basketball was
offered.In the areas around five other Fort Worth community centers where the programs
were not offered, crime rose an average of 39 percent during the same period.S2
Research supports the widely held belief that community involvement in neighborhood
parks is correlated with lower levels of crime. The Project on Human Development in
Chicago Neighborhoods studied the impact of"collective efficacy,"which it defined as
cohesion among neighborhood residents combined with shared expectations for
informal social control of public space."The study found that"in neighborhoods where
collective efficacy was strong,rates of violence were low,regardless of
sociodemographic composition and the amount of disorder observed. Collective efficacy
8°Peter A.Witt and John L.Crompton,"The At-risk Youth Recreation Project,"Journal of Park and
Recreation Administration 14,no. 13,1996: 1-9.For a version of this paper,see
http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/Faculty/Witt/wittpub5.htm.
81 The Trust for Public Land,Healing America's Cities:How Urban Parks Can Make Cities Safe and
Healthy(San Francisco:The Trust for Public Land, 1994),p.6.
82 Witt and Crompton,"The At-risk Youth Recreation Project."
2003 The Trust for Public Land 22 On the web at wxw.tpl.org
also appears to deter disorder: Where it was strong, observed levels of physical and social
disorder were low."83
Recreation Opportunities: The Importance of Play
For small children,playing is learning. Play has proved to be a critical element in a
child's future success. Play helps kids develop muscle strength and coordination,
language, cognitive thinking, and reasoning abilities.
Research on the brain demonstrates that play is a scaffold for development,a vehicle for
increasing neural structures, and a means by which all children practice skills they will
need in later life,"according to the Association for Childhood Education International.84
Play also teaches children how to interact and cooperate with others, laying foundations
for success in school and the working world.
Exercise has been shown to increase the brain's capacity for learning.In 1999,
researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute found that voluntary running boosts
the growth of new nerve cells and improves learning and memory in adult mice. The new
nerve cells were concentrated in a part of the brain called the hippocampus,which plays a
central role in memory formation, including spatial learning—locating objects in the
environment—and consciously recalling facts, episodes, and unique events.
85
TPL has been deeply involved in helping create recreational opportunities for children.
Densely populated Lowell,Massachusetts, for example, has been chronically short of
park space, and in the past had even paved over parks to build housing. Lowell's youth
soccer league lacked a soccer field to play on, forcing it to travel to other cities to
practice.
In 1994,the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust turned to TPL for help. TPL arranged
the'purchase of a ten-acre former industrial site along the Merrimack River. The property,
next to a working-class neighborhood,had been contaminated with petroleum
hydrocarbons, semivolatile organic compounds, and polychlorinated biphenyls.After
environmental mitigation,TPL helped turn the site into the Edwards Street Soccer Fields,
which now gives local children critical opportunities for outdoor recreation.86
83 Robert J.Sampson and Stephen W.Raudenbush,"Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods—Does It Lead to
Crime?"Research in Brief(Washington,D.C.:U.S.Department of Justice,National Institute of Justice,
February 2001),pp. 1-2,http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffilesl/nij/186049.pdf.
Sa Joan Packer Isenberg and Nancy Quisenberry,"Play:Essential For All Children,"Association for
Childhood Education International,2002,http://www.udel.edufbateman/acei/playpaper.htm.
85 Henriette van Praag et al.,"Running Enhances Neurogenesis,Learning,and Long-term Potentiation in
Mice,"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96,no.23 (November 9, 1999): 13427-13431,
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/fullJ96/23/13427.See also press release at
http://www.hhmi.org/news/sejnowski.html.
86 Badge Blackett,senior project manager,The Trust for Public Land,interview by author,July 10,2003.
See also The Trust for Public Land,"Greening New England's Mid-Sized Cities,"October 10,2000,
http://www.tpl.org/tier3 print.cfm?content_item_id=1305&folder id=905.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 23 On the web at www.tpl.org
Creating Stable Neighborhoods with Strong Community
Green_spaces_huild eommunity_Research shows that residents of neighborhoods with
greenery in common spaces are more likely to enjoy stronger social ties than those who
live surrounded by barren concrete.
A study by the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago found that for urban
public housing residents,levels of vegetation in common spaces predicted the formation
of neighborhood social ties. "In inner-city neighborhoods where common spaces are
often barren no-man's lands,the presence of trees and grass supports common space use
and informal social contact among neighbors,"the study found. "In addition,vegetation
and[neighborhood social ties]were significantly related to residents' senses of safety and
adjustment."87
These benefits often arise in the context of community gardens. A 2003 study conducted
by the University of Missouri—St. Louis for the community development organization
Gateway Greening found that St.Louis neighborhoods with community gardens were
more stable than other neighborhoods. In a city that lost nearly 50,000 residents between
1990 and 2000,neighborhoods with gardens did relatively better, losing 6 percent of their
population over the decade compared with 13 percent for the city as a whole.88
The study also found that between 1990 and 2000, monthly rents for apat intents
immediately around the gardens rose a median of$91, compared with no change in the
larger U.S. Census areas surrounding the gardens and a$4 drop for St. Louis as a
whole.89
Advocates of community gardens say they increase residents' sense of community
ownership and stewardship,provide a focus for neighborhood activities,expose inner-
city youth to nature, connect people from diverse cultures,reduce crime by cleaning up
vacant lots, and build community leaders.
The garden can take credit for bringing the neighborhood together,"says Annie
Thompson in Park Slope,Brooklyn,speaking about the Garden of Union.90
This is an area where more research is needed;the evidence of these social benefits is
often anecdotal. It is also difficult to isolate the benefits of a community garden from the
effects of economic,demographic, and other changes on a neighborhood.
87 Frances E.Kuo et al.,"Fertile Ground for Community:Inner-City Neighborhood Common Spaces,"
American Journal of Community Psychology 26,no.6(1998),
webs.aces.uiuc.edu/herlldocs/KuoS ulColeyBrunson.pdf.
88 Mark Tranel,"The Whitmire Study"(unpublished draft report,Gateway Greening,July 2003),p.6.For
limited information,see http://www.stlouis.missouri.org/gatewaygreening/WhitmireStudy.htm.
89 Ibid.,p.3.
90 Jane Weissman,ed.City Farmers: Tales from the Field(1995),cited in Englander,New York's
Community Gardens, p.7.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 24 On the web at www.tpLorg
TPL has been heavily involved in preserving community gardens in New York City.In
1998,the city announced a plan to auction off 114 of its more than 700 community
gardens. TPL,working with other conservation groups, open space and garden coalitions,
and individual gardeners, opposed the auction. Lawsuits,public pressure,and media
attention brought the city to the negotiating table.The day before the auction,the city
agreed to sell 63 gardens to TPL and the remainder to the nonprofit New York
Restoration Project. All 114 gardens were spared.91
91 Ibid.,p. 1.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 25 On the web at www.tpl.org
Conclusion
We at the Trust for Public Land call for a revival of the city parks movement of the late
19th century,a visionary era that produced great public spaces like New York's Central
Park and San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.More than a century later,these bold and
farsighted investments continue to pay dividends that enrich our lives.
While Yellowstone,Yosemite, and other wilderness parks are national treasures,
Americans need more than once-a-year vacations in faraway national parks.We need
parks near our homes, in the cities where 80 percent of Americans live,where we can
enjoy them and benefit from them in our daily lives.
Those of us lucky enough to live near parks,open spaces, and greenways know the joys
they bring:the calming views of trees and green lawns,the singing of birds,the fresh air,
the scent of fallen pine needles.
Overwhelming evidence demonstrates the benefits of city parks. They improve our
physical and psychological health, strengthen our communities, and make our cities and
neighborhoods more attractive places to live and work.
But too few Americans are able to enjoy these benefits.The lack of places for regular
exercise has contributed to America's epidemic of obesity among adults and children, an
epidemic that will have dire consequences on both our health and our finances.
Building a basketball court is far cheaper than building a prison block.Yet because we
have not invested in city parks,many children have nowhere to play outdoors [and may
turn to crime].A generation of children is growing up indoors,locked into a deadened
life of television and video games, alienated from the natural world and its life-affirming
benefits.
We call on Americans to join the effort to bring parks, open spaces, and greenways into
the neighborhoods where all can benefit from them. While government plays a vital role
in the creation of public parks, governments cannot do the job alone. Achieving this
vision will depend on the planning and transactional skills of nonprofit groups like TPL;
on the input of neighborhood groups and community leaders in designing the parks; and
on the financial support and moral leadership of community-minded individuals and
businesses.
Working together,we can help many more Americans experience the joys of jogging
down a tree-lined path, of a family picnic on a sunny lawn, of sharing a community
garden's proud harvest.We can create the green oases that offer refuge from the
alienating city streets—places where we can rediscover our natural roots and reconnect
with our souls.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 26 On the web at www.tpl.org
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Kuo,Frances E., William C. Sullivan,Rebekah Levine Coley, and Liesette Brunson.
Fertile Ground for Community:Inner-City Neighborhood Common Spaces."American
Journal of Community Psychology 26,no. 6(1998).
webs.aces.uiuc.edu/herl/docs/KuoSulColeyBrunson.pdf.
Land Trust Alliance. "Voters Approve $2.9 Billion for Land Conservation."Press
release,November 6,2002,updated January 31,2003.
http://www.lta.org/newsroom/pr_110602.htm.
Lerner, Steve, and William Poole. The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space. San
Francisco: The Trust for Public Land, 1999.
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content item id=1145&folder-id=727.
Lewis, Megan. "How Cities Use Parks For Economic Development."City Parks Forum
Briefing Papers. Chicago:American Planning Association,2002.
http://www.planning.org/cpf/pdf/economicdevelopment.pdf.
Loe Hicks,Victoria. "44-acre park plan unveiled for downtown Dallas."Dallas Morning
News,July 11,2003.
Maywood,California. "About Maywood."2003.
http://www.cityofmaywood.com/home/aboutMaywood.cfin?sec=home&subSec=about.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 29 On the web at www.tpl.org
Michaels,Dave. "Panel Backs Aid for Downtown,Victory; Task Force Pushes Tax
Dollars for Projects,Asks Developers to Cooperate."Dallas Morning News,January 24,
2002.
Minneapolis,Minnesota. Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board. "2003-2004 Impacts of
the Governor's Proposed Budget Cuts."2003.
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/about/budgetj,acket.pdf.
Minneapolis,Minnesota. Minneapolis Park&Recreation Board. "Park Board Passes
2003 Budget Cuts."Press release,March 20, 2003.
http://www.minneapolisparks.org/forms/about/pr toc.asp?prid=135.
National Association of Realtors. "NAR Survey Shows Public Support for Open Space
Depends on Use and Cost."Press release,April 25, 2001.
http://www.realtor.org/SmartGrowth2.nsf/Pages/mngrtpresssurvey?Open document.
National Park Service. "Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers,Trails, and Greenway
Corridors,"4th edition. 1995. http://www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca/econ_all.pdf.
Urban Park and Recreation Recovery."
http://www.nps.gov/upreprogram_inbrief.html.
New York State. Department of Environmental Conservation and Office of Parks,
Recreation and Historic Preservation. Conserving Open Space in New York State.
November 1995.
New Yorkers for Parks and Ernst&Young LLP.How Smart Parks Investment Pays Its
Way. June 2003.
Pincetl, Stephanie,Jennifer Wolch,John Wilson,and Travis Longcore. "Toward a
Sustainable Los Angeles: A `Nature's Services' Approach."University of Southern
California, Center for Sustainable Cities. March 2003.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/geography/ESPE/documents/report_haynes.pdf.
St. Louis 2004. "Clean Water, Safe Parks&Community Trails."
http://www.stlouis2004.org/html/ap_cleanwater.html.
Tranel,Mark. "The Whitmire Study."Unpublished draft report. Gateway Greening. July
2003. http://stlouis.missouri.org/gatewaygreening/WhitmoreStudy.htm.
The Trust for Public Land. "Greening New England's Mid-Sized Cities."October 10,
2000.
http://www.tpl.org/tier3 print.cfm?folder id=905&content item id=1305&modtype=1.
The Trust for Public Land. Healing America's Cities:How Urban Parks Can Make Cities
Safe and Healthy. San Francisco, 1994.
2003 The Trust for Public Land 30 On the web at www.tpl.org
The Trust for Public Land. "Land for Great River Resource Center Acquired by New
Park District."Press release,March 28,2002.
http://www.stlouis2004.org/html/newsreleases/archives/2002/3-28-02 Land Acquired for
Resource Center.htm.
The Trust for Public Land. "Maywood Riverfront Park Project."
http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cdl.cfm?content item id=5848&folder id=1525.
The Trust for Public Land and Land Trust Alliance.LandVote 2002. Boston, January
2003. http://www.lta.org/publicpolicy/landvote2002.pdf.
Ulrich, R. S. "View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery."Science
224(1984).
U.S.Census Bureau. "Population,Housing Units,Area, and Density (geographies ranked
by total population): 2000."
http://www.factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?ds_name=D&geo_id=D&mt_name=
DEC_2000 SF1_U GCTPHIR US13S&_lang=en.
van Praag,Henriette,Brian R. Christie, Terrence J. Sejnowski,and Fred H. Gage.
Running Enhances Neurogenesis,Learning, and Long-term Potentiation in Mice."
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96,no. 23 (November 9, 1999):
13427-13431. http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/96/23/13427. See also press release
at http://www.hhmi.org/news/sejnowski.html.
Weissman,Jane, ed. City Farmers: Tales from the Field, 1995.
Wilson,Edward O.Biophilia: The Human Bond with Other Species. Cambridge,Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1984.
Witt, Peter A., and John L. Crompton. "The At-risk Youth Recreation Project."Journal
ofPark and Recreation Administration 14,no. 3, 1-9.
http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/Faculty/Witt/wittpub5.htm.
Wolch, Jennifer, John P. Wilson,and Jed Fehrenbach. "Parks and Park Funding in Los
Angeles: An Equity Mapping Analysis."University of Southern California. Sustainable
Cities Program. GIS Research Laboratory,May 2002.
http://www.teres.ca.gov/biodiversity/Meetings/archive/ej/USC.pdf.
For more information, visit
Parks for People
on the Web
httn://www.tplior0nfora
2003 The Trust for Public Land 31 On the web at www.tpl.org
Cover Photographs: (on left) Phil Shermeister; (on right) Scott Rolfson.
2003 The Trustfor Public Land 32 On the web at www.tpl.org
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In the future, livable communities
will be the basis for our competitive-
ness and economic strength. Our
efforts to make communities more
livable today must emphasize the
right kind of growth—sustainable
growth. Promoting a better quality
of lifeforourfamilies need never
come at the expense of economic
growth._indeed, in the 21st century
t.. . it can and must be an engine for
414'a_
F, y economicorowth.
3F . xS-.s,h '?•s Ft.. f d
k :,to . 44* Vice President Al Gore
J 010 Vet:'-‘:',''''
1+114144 4.
A v. .
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4-
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r V.
f*`g
tSlavic Village was designed
to offer affordable hous-
ing and a public park.The
development also has
brought economic renewal
to Its Cleveland,Ohio,
neighborhood.
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
fi a 111'`t3za7fl!a
P"11.
y#t fill? I
n many was the 199os were a great decade for
Austin,Texas.Attracted by oak-covered hillsides and a re
laxed,almost small-town,atmosphere,more than 800 high ti
t Y?
tech companies have moved to the Austin region in recent
ERIC SWANSON
years,swelling the local tax base.Newsweek recently dubbed Town Lake,Austin,
Austin"the utopian workplace of the future,"and Fortune has Texas,is one of many
designated it the nation's new number-one business city.
greenspaces that
makes the city an
However,this growth has not come without cost.Destruc- attractive place to live
tive urban sprawl has become a headline issue in Austin,where and work.
the population swelled from 400,000 to 600,000 in the last
decade and where many residents fear that Austin's success car-
ries the seeds of its own doom.A million people now live in the
Austin metro area.Roads are clogged with traffic,air quality is
in decline,sprawling development threatens drinking water,
and the oak-dotted hillsides are disappearing beneath houses
and shopping centers.In 1998,the Sierra Club ranked Austin the Planning for housing, open space,
second most sprawl-threatened midsized city in America.'
But even if Austin is one of the nation's most sprawl-and recreation is what's going
threatened cities,it has also begun to mount an admirable to enrich the desired development zone.
defense.A 1998 Chamber of Commerce report recognized People will be able to work and live in
Austin's environment as an important economic asset worth
protecting,and the city council has launched a smart growth the same area.
initiative in an attempt to save the goose that lays the golden
egg.The initiative includes regulatory changes in an attempt BEVERLY GRIFFITH
to encourage denser development patterns.It also includes City Councilmember,Austin,TX
efforts to protect open space.Over the last decade,Austin vot-
ers have approved over$130 million in local bonds to help cre-
ate parks and greenways and protect critical watershed lands.jr
Some of this money is going to the purchase of open space 1 .
that will attract new residents to a 5,000-acre"desired devel-
opment zone,"says real estate developer and Austin City
Councilmember Beverly Griffith."We're identifying and set- `
ting aside the most sensitive,the most beautiful,the most
ERIC BEI.GS
threatened lands in terms of water quality,so the desired Beverly Griffith.
development zone will have a spine of natural beauty down the
middle of it,and that will attract folks to live and work there."
Planning for housing,open space,and recreation is
what's going to enrich the desired development zone,"Griffith
says."People will be able to work and live in the same area."
Growing Smart
Ask m Moo 1 Many community leaders expect that
the taxes generated by growth wi it payfor
Before increasing the density of a communi- the increased costs of sprawl,but in many
ty we like to increase the intensity of nature,"
says William Moorish,director of the Design instances this is not the case.
Center for American Urban Landscape at the
University of Minnesota.Moorish cites an
example from the Lake Phalen neighborhood
of St.Paul,Minnesota,where a1950 shop- a Smart Growth and Open Space
ping center is being torn down to uncover a Austin is not alone in its efforts to protect open space as a way
lake and wetland.Plans call for restoring the of supporting local economies and guiding growth into more
wetland as the centerpiece of a mixed-use
neighborhood already served by Infrastructure densely settled,multiuse,pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.
and mass transit. Open space conservation is essential to any smart growth
Open space makes higher-density living plan.The most successful higher-density neighborhoods—
more attractive,Moorish contends.Every those most attractive to homebuyers—offer easy access to
community should provide infrastructure to parks,playgrounds,trails,greenways and natural open space.
its residents,and Moorish would expand the To truly grow smart a community must decide what
definition of infrastructure to Include open lands to protect for recreation,community character,the con-
space and a quality environment.Currently.servation of natural resources,and open space.This decision
the design of much urban infrastructure— helps shape growth and define where compact development
roads,bridges,power lines,airports,water should occur.
treatment plants—strips the richness of Many Americans believe that smart growth communities
nature from communities.By preserving open
space we fashion a richer,greener,more
cornare
more livable than are sprawling suburban neighborhoods.
But accumulating evidence also suggests that smarter,denserplexinfrastructurethatmakescitiesmore
appealing places to live.This,in turn,will
growth is simply the most economical way for communities to
reduce the pressure to bulldoze economically grow.This is one reason that the American Planning Associa-
valuable farmland and natural areas on the tion,the U.S.Conference of Mayors,the National Association
urban fringe. of Counties,and many business leaders are getting behind the
smart growth movement.
Can cion ervati on 1 ower -property. taxes?
Does land conservation force a rise in local rates—perhaps because they had less devel-
property taxes by removing land from the tax opment,which requires roads,schools,sewer
rolls? and water infrastructure,and other services.
The answer may be yes and no,according Every community is different,the report
to a pair of 1998 studies by the Trust for cautions;decisions about conservation must
Public Land.The studies examined the rela- be informed by a careful analysis of tax conse-
tionshlp between land conservation and prop- quences and broader community goals:
erty taxes In Massachusetts.The challenge when evaluating future
In fact,the study found,in the short term Investments is to strike a balance between
property taxes did rise after a land conserva- what Improves a community,what residents
tion project. can afford and what is fair.Planning for both
But in the long term.Massachusetts conservation and development is an impor-
towns that had protected the most land tant part of achieving that goal."2
enjoyed,on average,the lowest property tax
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
r ar r 4
stet. i ': 4,-,.
a' a s
II
4 !
Increased density saves 4
in infrastructure costs and
contains sprawl.r r 1
II
r-
Lsaav OHMAN
The Costs of Sprawl Outpace fax Revenues but do people want
Sprawl development not only consumes more land than high- t O 1 ye in
density development,it requires more tax-supported infra- C 1 LI t erect;ho u Isl fa
structure such as roads and sewer lines.Police and fire services
and schools also must be distributed over a wider area.
Many communities are saving money and land
One study found that New Jersey communities would save
by encouraging—or even mandating—clus-
tered housing.
1.3 billion in infrastructure costs over 20 years by avoiding In a typical clustered development,homes
unplanned sprawl development.3
are built closer together on smaller lots and
Another predicted that even a modest implementation of surrounded by protected open space or con-
higher-density development would save the state of South servation land.
Carolina$2.7 billion in infrastructure costs over 20 years.4And Clustered housing is cheaper for a comrnu-
a third found that increasing housing density from 1.8 units per nity to service than houses on larger lots,
acre to 5 units per acre in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area would largely because it consumes less land and
slash$3 billion in capital infrastructure costs over 20 years.5 requires shorter roads,shorter utility lines
Many community leaders expect that the taxes generated and less infrastructure of other types.
by growth will pay for the increased costs of sprawl,but in But do people really want to live in clus-
many instances this is not the case. teres housing?
In the island community of Nantucket,Massachusetts,each
A 1990 study attempted to answer this
question for two communities in New England.
housing unit was found to cost taxpayers an average of$265 a
where sprawl is rapidly overwhelming the orig-
year more than the unit contributed in taxes."Simply stated,final clustered development pattern of houses
new dwellings do not carry their own weight on the tax rolls,”gathered around a village green and surround-
a town report concluded.
b
ed by farms,forests,and other open space.
And in Loudoun County,Virginia--the fastest growing coun-Researchers used the rate of real estate
ty in the Washington,D.C.area—costs to service i,000 new appreciation as a measure of consumer
development units exceeded their tax contribution by as much demand for homes in two clustered develop-
as$2.3 million.7 ments in Concord and Amherst,Massachusetts.
Studies in DuPage County,Illinois,and Morris County,New In both communities the average clustered
Jersey,suggest that even commercial development may fail to home appreciated faster than comparable
pay its own way.In addition to making its own demands on homes on conventional lots.
community resources,commercial development can attract Clustered housing can allow a community
costly residential sprawl.$
to meet its land protection goals without
endangering property values or the tax base
while allowing construction of the same num-
ber of units,the report suggests.
The home-buyer,speaking...through the
marketplace,appears to have demonstrated a
greater desire for a home with access...to
permanently protected land,than for one
located on a bigger lot,but without the open-
space amenity.
Growing Smart
f
s
Luther Propst i'. yam:
a F,.1 J l
1
v
1,
l It
r
s Mo io Z
reit
5 • p .-_ f 'J S
Loudoun County,Virginia -w-:~ t£` _i"---
r" Tc .'
Rrizona,on the outskirts under Intense develop
ment pressure. 4-. .-- .r tf ; y==-. ,-mow -.c
of rapidly growing Tuc. 1e NNle COOCH
t son,developers once
wanted to build a
n 21,000-unit resort and
DOMINICOLD!ASHAW
residential community LandBenefitsofand Conservation
Luther Propst. on the 6,000-acre Instead of costing money,conserving open space as a smart
Rocking K Ranch adja-growth strategy can save communities money:
cent to Saguaro National Park. Bowdoinham,Maine,chose to purchase development rights
But the project was scaled back to on a 307-acre dairy farm when research indicated that the costs
6,500 clustered units after opposition from
of supporting the development would not be met by anticipat-
the National Park Service and local environ-
ed property revenues."Undeveloped land is the best tax breakmentaliststhreatenedtoderailthedevelop-
ment.As part o the agreement that allowed
a town has,"concluded selectman George Christopher.lO
the development to proceed,the most biodogi- A study in Woodbridge,Connecticut,revealed that taxpayers
cally important land was set aside as open would be better off buying a 292-acre tract than permitting it
space.Two thousand acres has been sold to to be developed."This town cannot afford not to buy land,"
the National Park Service.wrote Robert Gregg,president of the Woodbridge Land Trust."
The rest of the property will be managed Land conservation is often less expensive for local gov-
with input from Rincon Institute,a community ernments than suburban style development,"writes planner
stewardship organization supported by home- Holly L.Thomas."The old adage that cows do not send their
owners and businesses in the new develop-children to school expresses a documented fact—that farms
ment and visitors to the resort.The institute and other types of open land,far from being a drain on local
conducts long-term environmental research, taxes,actually subsidize local government by generating far
helps protect neighboring natural areas and
more in property taxes than they demand in services."12
conducts environmental education programs.
For this reason,even groups that usually oppose taxation
Initially the developers were skepti-
cal,but they now see that a legitimate corn-
have come to recognize that new taxes to acquire open space
mitment to conservation is good for market- may save taxpayers money in the long run."People are...
Ing, says Luther Propst,director of the beginning to realize that development is a tax liability for
Sonoran Institute,which helped negotiate towns,not an asset,because you have to build schools and hire
the arrangement.more police officers.And that makes property taxes go up,"
The developer agrees."People will pay Sam Perilli,state chairman of United Taxpayers of New Jersey,
a premium for an environmentally well- an antitax group,told the New York Times.13 e.
thought-out community,"says Chris Monson.
president of the Rocking K Development Cor-
poration."Sometimes less is more,so we
increased densities,clustered housing,and
preserved open space.We think this makes
our development look attractive.It also
makes the units easier to sell."
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
Keep op ran h1 n!
Along the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies, allow our communities to grow together into
communities from Fort Collins in the north to one Indistinguishable urban mass,"says Tom
Pueblo in the south are racing to preserve the Keith,chair of Larimer County's Open Lands
wide open spaces and quality of life that have Advisory Board,which was appointed by
attracted millions of new residents. county commissioners to guide a new Open
A lot of employers move here for the Lands Program.
climate,access to the mountains,the open Larimer County has taken several ap-
space,and other quality of lite Issues,"says proaches to preserving its quality of life.In the
Will Shafroth of Great Outdoors Colorado early 1990s a committee appointed by the
G000),which funds open space projects county recommended clustered rather than
using state lottery revenues."But if we con- dispersed development on rural lands,and
tinue to develop and become a solid city while the approach was not mandatory,20
between Fort Collins and Pueblo,we lose the clustered projects were under way by 1997.
very reason businesses come here to begin In 1995 Larimer County voters passed
with.They're going to move off and find the an eight-year,1/4 cent"Help Preserve Open
next place,as they have in California and Spaces"sales tax,which has brought in near-
Florida and Texas and other places that have ly$18 million to date.The money will be used
grown rapidly." for the purchase of land or development
Larimer County,at the northern end of rights to keep open lands open and to keep
the Front Range,is typical.The county,which farms and ranches in agricultural use.Other
has been growing at 3.5 percent per year for support for the program has come from
the past 25 years,lost nearly 35,000 acres of GOCO.
farm and ranch land to development between As of 1998,Larimer County had protect-
1987 and 1992.ed 7,000 acres of the open space on which
There Is strong concern that we not its quality of life and prosperity depend.14
S6ab-
y ,
In Steamboat Springs,
Fr Colorado,TPL helped cre-
ate an open space plan
and supported a success-
ful tax measure to protect
working ranches.
BILL GRAY
Growing Smart
z y...
yet
t
3x— t1i
Jk
4'.
eli
AP/WORLD WIDE PHOTOS e- livable Communities:
Sprawl development has
led to traffic problems In Long-term Investment
Atlanta,Georgia. In the long term,economic advantage will go to communities
that are able to guide growth through land conservation and
other smart growth measures.In some instances a communi-
ty's bond rating may actually rise after it has shown it can con-
There is no greater risk trol growth by purchasing open space.15
to land values than One 1998 real estate industry analysis predicts that over
the next 23 years,real estate values will rise fastest in the smart
unrestrained development. communities that incorporate the traditional characteristics
of successful cities:a concentration of amenities,an integra-
REAL ESTATE RESEARCH tion of residential and commercial districts,and a"pedestrian-
CORPORATION
friendly configuration."
But many low-density suburban communities will suffer
lower land values because of poor planning,increasing traffic,
deteriorating housing stock,and loss of exclusivity,the report
New Jersey predicts,concluding that"there is no greater risk to land
shows the W:3' values than unrestrained development."16
Number of open space bond acts approved
by New Jersey voters,1961-1995:9
Funds for New Jersey's Green Acres land
acquisition program generated by these bond
acts:$1.4 billion
Expected additional amount of state open
space funding approved by New Jersey voters,
November 1998:$1 billion
Amount of open space these latest funds
will help protect:1 million acres
Approximate proportion of New Jersey's
remaining developable open space this
acreage represents:50 percent
Number of New Jersey counties that passed
open space funding measures In November
1998:6
Of 21 New Jersey counties,the number that
now have a dedicated source of open space
funding:16
Rank of New Jersey among states in popula-
tion density:1 17
THE ECONOMIC BENEPITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
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SUSAN LAPIDE S
Providence,Rhode
Island,plans a system
of trails and greenways
to bring growth and
investment to the city.
Wen. space pitys . .
In 1967,Boulder,Colorado,became the first
U.S.city to pass a dedicated sales tax to fund
the preservation of open space.Today Boulder
enjoys an open space treasury of more than
40,000 acres,much of it in a ring of green-
belts that offer uncluttered views of the city's
signature Rocky Mountain backdrop.12 n the early 198os,Chattanooga,Tennessee,was
As early as the 1970s.it was already suffering a deep economic recession.Eighteen thousand man-
clear that Boulder residents would pay a pre- ufacturing jobs had been lost due to factory closure and reloca-
mium to live near these open spaces,with tion.Surviving factories,burdened with outdated equipment,
their trails and stream corridors,and that the
pumped out a smog so thick that residents sometimes drove
resulting increase in taxes would more than with their lights on in the middle of the day.
pay for open space protection.In one neigh-
Faced with rising unemployment and crime,polluted air,borhood.total property values increased by
5.4 million after the greenbelt was built, and a deteriorating quality of life,middle-class residents
generating$500,000 per year in additional began to leave the city,taking with them the tax base that had
property taxes—enough to recoup the green- supported police,sanitation,road repair,and other municipal
way's$1.5 million purchase price in only services.Departing residents explained that they were moving
three years.2a to the cleaner,greener,and safer suburbs.To lure them back,
Boulder's experience confirms what local government,businesses,and community groups decided
many communities have discovered:open to improve Chattanooga's quality of life by cleaning the air,
space conservation is a one-time investment acquiring open space,and constructing parks and trails.
that can boost property values and swell tax Largely as a result of these efforts,Chattanooga today is
coffers long after the land is paid for.And in alive with economic activity.'Where once there were rusting
survey after survey home buyers identify near-factories,there are now green open spaces surrounded by a
by open space and trails as among the top bustling commercial and residential district.Where thefeaturesinchoosingahome21
Tennessee River sweeps through the city,abandoned ware-
i ; ,,00 r 11 houses have given way to an eight-mile greenway,the center-
s a :• • - piece of a planned,75-mile network of greenways and trails.
A former automobile bridge across the river has been dedicat-
ed to pedestrian use,sparking economic revival on both sides
11;04.".1 ,-of the river.Downtown,an IMAX theater now caters to
1-i d_:'-i -ks .--i.- - Chattanooga residents and tourists,and a new Tennessee
RiverPark surrounds the new Tennessee Aquarium,which has
injected an estimated$50o million into the local economy
rl-
since opening in 1992.
In all,the environmentally progressive redevelopment of
I' Chattanooga's downtown riverfront involved$356 million in
1 public and private investment.In the eight years between 1988
and 1996 the number of businesses and full-time jobs in the
district more than doubled,and assessed property values went
t; 1 upover$Il million, increase of 127.5 percent.Over the sameChattanooga,Tennessee, f:
r
an
is fueling an economic i 1. If Alt n r ¢ s E' period,the annual combined city and county property tax rev-
revival with parks and It 1 i I enues went up$592,000,an increase of 99 percent.18
greenways.This pedes- ttl,31ifl` ; We certainly have had a revival,and the city takes pridetrian-only bridge crosses L
y.,
the Tennessee River. 4 in the fact that we have received a lot of attention for this turn-
BILLY WEEKS
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
L. '0°11-, a--,4-,.,..:...,..t, r
r_,..._.,
Making the city more pedestrian-
BILLY WEEKS fr1endIy is really what sbringing>•t
David Crockett.back to life.
DAVID CROCKETT
Chairman,Chattanooga City Council
around,"says David Crockett,chairman of the Chattanooga
ai nr• .Vy. S
City Council and president of the Chattanooga Institute,
which focuses on new ways of building communities."There
is a feeling not that we've arrived,but that we are on the right SALEM,OR:Land adjacent to a greenbelt
path—and`path'is a good word for ft,"Crockett says,"since was found to be worth about$1,200 an acre
our progress is closely linked to paths.People may point to more than land only 1,000 feet away.22
some rightly celebrated projects,like the aquarium or the OAKLAND,CA:A three-mile greenbelt
IMAX theater,but making the city more pedestrian-friendly is around Lake Merritt,near the city center,was
found to add$41 million to surrounding prop-really what's bringing it back to life."
Ten years ago,Crockett found himself arguing for the
erty values.23
FRONT ROYAL,VA:A developer who donat-
importance of parks and open space to the city's economic ed a 50-foot-wide,seven-mile-long easement
future."People asked why we should spend money on walking along a popular trail sold all 50 parcels border-
paths and parks when we have schools that need money and ing the trail in only four months.24
roads to fix and we need to create more jobs.But now we have SEATTLE,WA:Homes bordering the 12-mile
moved beyond thinking of those as tradeoffs.It is understood Burke Gilman trail sold for 6 percent more
that we invest in all of those things.There is consensus that we than other houses of comparable size.25
will continue to add more parks,open space,and walking DENVER,CO:Between 1980 and 1990,the
areas to the city."a- percentage of Denver residents who said they
would pay more to live near a greenbelt or
park rose from 16 percent to 48 percent.26
DAYTON,OH:Five percent of the selling
price of homes near the Cox Arboretum and
i ye rue land j _ park was attributable to the proximity of that
I of i7 O ' 1 and open space.27
e- SAN FRANCISCO,CA:Golden
Corporate CEOs say quality of life for s+illik .x' '
f-
Gate Park increases the value
employees Is the third-most important factor
in locating a business,behind only access
to0f
of nearby property by an amount
i of from$500 million to$1 bil-
domestic markets and availability of skilled
labor.29 x
4-,-,, lion,in the process generating
Owners of small companies ranked recre
5-$10 million in annual proper
ty taxes 25
ation/parks/open space as the highest priority
in choosing a new location for their business.30
Seventy firms that moved to or expanded f*!
within Arizona chose the state for its`outdoor
lifestyle and recreation opportunities."31
it Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco,
t. California.
WILLIAM POOLE
Attracting Investment
A:sTr ;Bei ac:o- America
In 1996 the Bank of America released
Beyond Sprawl:New Patterns of Growth to
Fit the New California."a report about the
effects of sprawl on California's economy.
B of A had sponsored the report in partner-
ship with the California Resources Agency.
s Quality of Life:the Greenbelt Alliance,and the Low Income
Housing Fund,but it was the involvement of
The New Engine of Economic Growth
the state's largest bank that lent the report The revival of Chattanooga illustrates the new role of parks,
particular credibility with businesspeople. open space,and quality of life in attracting residents,business-
Unchecked sprawl has shifted from an es,and economic activity to communities.The riverfront loca-
engine of California's growth to a force that tion that once drew factories to the city now makes its eco-
threatens to Inhibit growth and degrade the nomic contribution by attracting tourists and new residents.
quality of our life,"the report concluded. As the nation moves toward a mixed economy based on
Among other costs,the report singled out the services,light industry,consumer goods,and new technologies,
loss of farmland,the expense of supporting businesses and their employees are no longer tied to traditional
highways and other infrastructure in far-flung industrial centers.Today,businesses are free to shop for an
suburbs,and damage to the environment due
appealing location,and they clearly prefer communities with a
to development pressure on remaining open
land 34 high quality of life,including an abundance of open space,near-
In 1998 a report by the Center for the by recreation,and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.
Continuing Study of the California Economy
Consider the case of Portland,Oregon,which in 198o
confirmed the Bank of America findings. established an urban growth boundary that strictly limited
Land Use and the California Economy: development at the city's fringe.Critics warned that the
Principle for Prosperity and Quality of Life" boundary would stifle development and damage the region's
highlighted planned growth,open space economy.But instead,the number of jobs in the metropolitan
preservation and higher-density development area has increased by 57 percent.High-tech companies and
as ways of preserving quality of life to attract industries sprang up inside the urban boundary.Hewlett-
businesses and workers."A high quality of life Packard,Intel,and Hyundai were among those companies
is not just an amenity for California resi- attracted by forests,orchards,and creeks on the outskirts of a
dents,"the report states,"It is increasingly a livable urban area.According to the New York Times,employ-
key determinant in attracting workers in
ers wanted to attract"educated workers who were as interest-
California's leading industries."35
ed in the quality of life as a paycheck."
This is where we are headed worldwide,"maintained an
Intel spokesman."Companies that can locate anywhere they
want will go where they can attract good people in goodplaces."32
Open Space for Quality of Life
Across the nation,parks and protected open space are increas-
r ingly recognized as vital to the quality of life that fuels eco-
w. nomic health.For a 1995 poll,researchers from the Regional
Critics warned that 4 Plan Association and the QniPac College Polling Institute
Portland,Oregon's xt queried nearly 2,000 people from around the country about
urban growthbonne
t{ quality of life.The major elements cited as crucial for a satis-
ary would stifle the t
economy.But the op
3 factory quality of life were low crime with safe streets and
postte has occurred. access to greenery and open space.33PHOTO:PHIL SCHOAMEISTea
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
J
Maintaining clear edge between town and country
f r
is the most simple and critical step counties and
cities can take to retain the rural character that has I<j_ 2'IV Abeenthesourceofoarwealth. i
SIERRA BUSINESS COUNCIL u s
40,14SHAN ARAM"
The Sierra village of
Downieville,California
is a popular tourist
Real estate industry analysts confirm quality of life as a
destination.
determining factor in real estate values and economic vitality.
r
A
One 1998 industry report calls livability"a litmus test for deter-
mining the strength of the real estate investment market..
sm.RR..n[5INH89 coUN"`.
The Sierra Business
If people want to live in a place,companies,stores,hotels,and council's Tracy Grubbs.
apartments will follow."36
A 1996 report by Arthur Andersen consulting company
found that mid-and high-level executives increasingly
choose to work in locations that offer a high quality of life
outside the workplace.Availability of quality education is
of prime importance,Andersen reports.But not far behind
comes recreation,along with cultural institutions and a safe
environment.Proximity to open space is seen as an impor- Vat er S f Itantbenefit.37 lust.buy-i 3
A survey of businesses in California's Sierra Nevada
Mountains cited nearby wildlands,open landscapes,and More and more state,county,and municipal
small-town charm as among the significant advantages of voters are deciding that the surest—and often
doing business there."The quality of life in this region drives the fairest—way to protect open space is to
just buy it.Purchasing land or development
our economic engine,"says Tracy Grubbs,director of special
rights as a way of guiding growth avoids
projects for the 450-member Sierra Business Council.The
expensive regulatory and legal battles while
council's 1997 report concluded that"as the Sierra Nevada's
reimbursing landowners for the economic and
population grows,maintaining a clear edge between town and other benefits the open space will bring the
country is the most simple and critical step counties and cities community.
can take to retain the rural character that has been the source In November 1998,voters nationwide
of our wealth."
38 faced 240 state and local ballot measures
There are businesses that have decided to locate in corn- concerning land conservation,parks,and
munities because of the presence of a greenways system,"says smarter growth—and approved 72 percent of
Chuck Plink,president of Greenways,Inc.,which helps corn- them.Many of these were funding measures
munities plan these long,skinny parks.Plink points to Reich- that will trigger,directly or indirectly,more
old Chemical Company,which brought 5oo jobs to Research than$7.5 billion in state and local funding for
Triangle Park in Raleigh-Durham,North Carolina,and to
land acquisition,easement purchase,park
improvements,and protection of historic
Caterpillar,Inc.,which located in Morgantown,North Caro-
resources.
lina,after a 20-city search."Both companies cited the pres-Such voters are
greenways
coming to under tand that
cosses
show
nservation and
ence of reenwa s as decisive factors in the location decision,"
Plink says. open space are investments,not costs.Recent
Nationwide,easy access to parks and open space has ballot measures seeking funds for conservation
become a new measure of community wealth—an important and open space have received the highest
way to attract businesses and residents by guaranteeing rates of approval among ballot measures seek-
both quality of life and economic health. ing approval for new capital expenditures.39
Attracting Investment
1 y
1.: V' ow
7
7-. . ,,,,,,,,,„:.,:.. . .,,.., ,,,
T.,....,.....„,L- 4"'
s
W k
4,...- '''....„. .4':'_
s
S 404.
111
f0,
lHS 6
w t t• (ii till
t
SUSAN LAPIDES
The Park at Post Office
Square,on land formerly
used for a parking garage,
has become a magnet for
new business Investment
In downtown Boston,Mas-
sachusetts.The garage Is
now underground.
r r l '-1 v}r oma
The creation of quality open space in the
neighborhood translates into a quality neigh-
borhood."argues Michael Groman.manager of
the Philadelphia Green Program of the Penn-
sylvania Horticultural Society.
Recently,c-roman's department has been
or years,a two-acre parcel in the midst of Boston's taking a novel approach to neighborhood stab,-
financial district was occupied by an unsightly,soo,000- lization in Philadelphia's New Kensington
square-foot concrete parking garage.But in the early 198os,at
neighborhood,where more than a thousand lit-
the urging of surrounding businesses,the city joined a unique
tered vacant lots were damaging property val-
uespublic-private partnership to demolish the structure and cre-Improper
and scaring away potential investors.
Improper management of these properties was
ate a privately funded underground garage covered by a grace-
ful park.Today,the Park at Post Office Square features a
casting the community dearly,Groman says.
The idea was to try to reduce the drag that
spreading lawn,polished granite walls,teak benches,a 143- these vacant lots have on the community."
foot formal garden,a walk-through sculpture fountain,and a Working with the New Kensington Corn-
café.Each day as many as 2,000 people stream up the escala-munity Development Corporation(NKCDC),
tors from the garage to jobs in the surrounding high-rises. Groman helped launch programs to improve
Post Office Square Park has changed Boston forever," the visual appeal of the properties and trans-
wrote Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell."The fer some of them to adjacent homeowners for
business district used to be an unfathomable maze of street a nominal sum."Greening and managing
and building without a center.The park provides that center, vacant land is a primary component in comma-
and all around it,as if by magic or magnetism,the whole nity development work,"Groman maintains.
downtown suddenly seems gathered in an orderly array.It's
Managing open space is not a luxury but
as if the buildings were pulling up to the park like campers
rather a definite need."
around a bonfire."
This rare open space in Boston's crowded financial district
has boosted the value of surrounding properties while provid-
ing an elegant green focus to a crowded commercial area.The
city receives$1 million a year for its ownership interest in the
garage,and$1 million in annual taxes.After the construction
debt is paid,ownership of the garage and park will revert to
the city.
40
The garage that formerly filled that block was really a It's as if the buildings were
negative,"says architect and city planner Alex Garvin,who pulling up to the park like
has written extensively on the role of open space in urban
economies."It simply wasn't attractive for a business to be campers around a bonfire.
located opposite a multistory parking structure."But with
the parking relocated below ground and the park created on
ROBERT CAMPBELL
top,all that changed,particularly given that the park is not
Boston Globe architecture critic
just decorative space but has become a popular gathering
on the Park at Post Office Square
spot."There's a café there,"Garvin says."You can sit in the
park.It has become an attractive place where people want to
be.And now that people want to be in the park,businesses
want to be across the street from it and the value of that
property goes up."
Revitalizing Cities
tee v 1
v
l R
I- s.
v
e A similar story comes from New York City,where nine-
Bryant Parkin mid acre Bryant Park,beside the New York Public Library,was neg-
town Manhattan is
credited with increas-
r lected and run-down until the late 1970s.Today,after a five-
ing occupancy rates ':`%...,T;‘.:;*::::`;:.-s
r
I year,$9 million renovation,the park boasts attractive lawns,
and property values in 1 - ' , ,
flower gardens,news and coffee kiosks,pagodas,a thriving
the surrounding neigh-
boyhood. ter• restaurant,and hundreds of moveable chairs under a canopy
BRYANT PARK RESTORATION CORPORATION of trees.On some days,more than 4,000 office workers and
tourists visit this green oasis in the heart of Manhattan,and
more than io,000 people come for special events.41
I4.1.t,
k The park,supported by city funds and by contributions
b from surrounding businesses,has spurred a rejuvenation of
4:, commercial activity along Sixth Avenue.Rents in the area are
f ._ ,' y climbing and office space is hard to come by.In the next five-to-
i seven years,revenues from park concessions will permit repay-
Dan Biederman is
cofounderofthe Bryant ment of construction debt and make the park economically self-
t.--,.:. ..,-.7.- ;`"- ‘:'' Park Restoration sufficient.At that point the park will no longer need city funds,
w:.'` Corporation. although it will continue to feed the neighborhood's economy.BRYANT PARK RE ST RATION
CORPORATION
Srart%irtbfyra ape' f'or. the green
In the late 1980s at the request of city gov-325 percent over their 1983 value.Retail
ernment.the local Flagstar Corporation of sales had also risen,with some downtown
Spartanburg,South Carolina,selected down- businesses reporting increases of as much as
town instead of a suburban site for a new cor- 100 percent.Residential rents In the area
porate office building.Because part of the goal have more than doubled since creation of the
was to revitalize the downtown area,Flagstar redevelopment and park.In all,more than
executives realized that a single office building $250 million in investment flowed into down-
would not do the trick,so a formal corporate town Spartanburg between 1988 and 1996.
plaza and a traditional downtown park with In the fall of 1996,officials announced a$100
flower gardens.walkways,benches,and lawns million development proposal that includes a
were added as magnets for downtown renewal. four-star hotel,a conference center,a golf
The result?By 1993,property values in course,an exhibit hall,and new office and res-
the central business district had increased idential development.42
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
J k
2
r -
c
1,,,,;:::?1,7;,1,4'.:
1,,,‘,..„-!:_.-.::::::,
i.:;;;;:-.i.,,,,f.,:;-::!::,;;;;;Z:;:_;-1_,;;;:::;,_-;-
i,";:::_,,,,,,.7.:;:-;,,
To Dan Biederman,who helped organize the Bryant Park k= : '- = l i`
effort,the lesson is clear."If building owners and the agents 1•
M"'
help protect urban open space they will be more than paid
f•x
SUSAN LAPID85
back for their efforts,both in increased occupancy rates and in
increased rent—all because their building has this attractive
new front yard."
A greenway along the piers in
East Boston,Massachusetts
Similar projects are underway elsewhere:
rt `
above),a former rail yard in
In East Boston,Massachusetts,plans are under way for a ti } Santa Fe,New Mexico(left),and
tZrl! '`' a lakefront park in Burlington,17 million,6.5-acre park at the abandoned East Boston piers
lc' ,. -
Vermont(below)are part of
to serve as a locus of economic development along a new
urban redevelopment efforts.
recreational waterfront.The new park offers playgrounds,
ERIC SWANSON
gazebos,and views of downtown Boston.435f }-=
With the help of the Trust for Public Land,Santa Fe,New
Mexico,recently acquired a 5o-acre former rail yard—the last
large undeveloped parcel downtown.The land will be used for
a park and as a site for community-guided development.44
t q
In Burlington,Vermont,a former zo-acre fuel tank farm will1
become a park on the Lake Champlain waterfront.Anticipating r'
the economic benefits the park will bring,the city purchased an f.N
adjacent 25 acres as a reserve for future commercial developa5
GLEN Russel.
ment—landPappreciateexectedto as the park takes shape.
One way to preserve valuable landscapes Protection Agency has been helping comma- which will create 30 jobs—is the first tenant in
while accommodating a growing population is nities redevelop some of the nation's estimat- a 900-acre brownfields target area that may
to redevelop previously used urban lands— ed 130,000 to 425,000 brownfield proper-eventually bring as many as 2000 jobs to the
sometimes known as"brownfields." ties,and these projects are already showing economically depressed neighborhood.
Even with the expense of environmental economic benefit: In Emeryville,California,a hotel,office,
clean-up,a recycled parcel is often less In Buffalo,New York,a 763,000-square-foot and residential complex on former industrial
expensive to develop than new land,because greenhouse on a former steel mill site produces property is expected eventually to generate
it is already serviced by roads,utilities,and up to 8 million pounds of hydroponic toma-as many as 10,600 new jobs.Future tenants
other Infrastructure.Brownfield development toes each year and employs 175 workers. include the biotechnology company Chiron
also limits the pressure to develop farms and In North Birmingham,Alabama,a reseller of Corporation,which will construct a 12-build-
other open space. industrial byproducts has established a facility ing,2.2 million-square-foot campus over the
Since 1993 the U.S.Environmental where a steel mill once stood.The business— next 20 years.46
Revitalizing Cities
F 101'
1
B 1 aajding houis ing
with open s-oat r 7 _
The Martin Luther King
i s
I
Packaged together,affordable housing and Jr.National Historic Site
open space can bring powerful changes to an has brought stability and
investment to its Atlanta
urban neighborhood.
Georgia,neighborhood. v 7 s
For years,the grounds of a former state PETER BUNET
mental hospital offered the only open space in
the high-density Broadway neighborhood of
Cleveland.Ohio.This lovely site in the midst of Parks for Community Revitalization
the city contained a strip of green along mean- American cities large and small are creating parks as focal
dering Mill Creek,flowering meadows,and points for economic development and neighborhood renewal.
gently wooded hills.But even though resi- Revitalizing public parks is a phenomenally cost-effective
dents could see this space,it was off-limits way to generate community economic development,"says
and patrolled by guards—fenced,contaminat-Steve Coleman,a Washington,D.C.,open space activist."If
ed.and littered with trash.
you think of[a park)as an institution,it can be a site for job
Residents were eager to see the site
developed as a park,but the Cleveland Metro training,education,or cultural performances."
Parks Department balked at the idea of tear- Coleman has been active in revitalizing Washington's
ing down the buildings,arguing that the secluded and long-neglected Meridian Hill Park,which stands
department was In the business of preserving on a hill with a distant view of the White House.In 1990,
and maintaining natural lands,not restoring Coleman and his neighbors organized Friends of Meridian Hill
already developed sites_. to restore the park as a neighborhood asset.An Earth Day
Eventually,the Broadway Area Housing clean-up and celebration was held,complete with a blues con-
Coalition(now known as Slavic Village cert.Park activists encouraged youth groups to schedule
Development)came up with a plan for the events in the park.Today,the restored park is frequented not
100-acre site.The goals were to preserve the only by residents,but by busloads of tourists who enjoy the
best of the open space and attract middle multiethnic ambiance of the Meridian Hill neighborhood.
class home buyers to an inner-city develop-Visitation has tripled,and many park visitors patronize local
ment.Planners also wanted to connect the
restaurants and retail businesses.Occupancy rates in sur-open space to 45-foot Mill Creek waterfall—
rounding apartment buildings have soared.the tallest waterfall In Cuyahoga County—
long blocked from public use by railroad A similar story comes out of Atlanta,Georgia,where
tracks,bridges and buildings. the expansion and restoration of the Martin Luther King,Jr.
The mental hospital was torn down,and National Historic Site has sparked a revival of the African-
the contamination was cleaned up.A private American"Sweet Auburn"neighborhood.The Trust for
housing development of 217 units is being Public Land—which began acquiring properties for the his-
developed on 58 acres of the land.Parkland toric site in the early 198os—recently acquired several more
totaling 35 acres will include the stream cord- historic homes and demolished a dilapidated factory to pro-
dor and trails connecting to the waterfall. vide land for the park.The improved site,with additional open
Houses along the park are selling as quickly space,has become a catalyst for community reinvestment.
as they are built,and entrepreneurs are leas- Crime is also down.Dozens of homes have been built or
ing properties near the waterfall,which is
restored,and the site's 5oo,000 annual visitors have bolstered
expected to attract 40,000 to 50,000 visitors
neighborhood businesses.
each year.Community residents are delighted
at last to have access to open space.47 None of this would have been possible without the invest-
ment in the national historic site,says real estate developer
Bruce Gunter,who has developed nonprofit,low-income
housing within the district."The National Park Service is
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
14 The whole point is to try to keep the middle
class families that are living there and to
attract others.The park will be a real anchor
mss {VA
for an in-town middle class.
CAEor CD1.IAED
Bruce Gunter. BRUCE GUNTER
Atlanta real estate developer
there for the long haul,"Gunter says."People considering
commercial or residential development can be confident that
the benefits of the park aren't going to disappear."
Gunter and others are now planning a greenway park
along the new Freedom Parkway,connecting the King Historic
Site,the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center,and Atlanta's
downtown.The park will contain bike trails,benches,and
street lighting and will be what Gunter calls,"a real-life,hon-i- `?" r c Law:
est-to-God,throw-a-Frisbee,get-a-drink-of-water,have-a-pic- 0111B 7 er I
nic kind of a park."Gunter and other businesspeople are help
As early as the 1850s,landscape architectingtoraisemoneyforthepark,which should boost property
Frederick Law Olmsted justified the pm-
values and spur business along its length.
chase of land for New York's Central Park by
This is pure market economics at work,"Gunter says.
noting that the rising value of adjacent prop-
There are eight neighborhoods that surround this parkway, erty would produce enough in taxes to pay
and they will all be strengthened.The whole point is to try to for the park.
keep the middle-class families that are living there and to By 1864,Olmsted could document a
attract others.The park will be a real anchor for an in-town 55,880 net return in annual taxes over what
middle class." the city was paying in interest for land and
Paul Grogan,former president of Local Initiative Support improvements.By 1873,the park—which
Coalition(LISC),a community development group in New until then had cost approximately$14 mil-
York City,agrees that open space can play a crucial role in revi- lion-was responsible for an extra$5.24 mil-
talizing low-income,inner-city neighborhoods."Low-income lion in taxes each year,as
neighborhoods are principally residential neighborhoods
where the economics have gotten weak because of depopula-
tion and disinvestment,"Grogan says."The key to restoring
their economic vitality is restoring the residential vitality.The
residents of such communities regard quality open space—
parks,ball fields,and gardens—as vital to the health of
their community."
17:.;f
i a
s
fs `
r-" d-
Community parks
sp and gardens bring vltai-
1 -,
Q --,4 try to urban neighbor-4;f-l"
hoods.Creston Avenue
pn 3Commun' Playground,
oilx‘_
rty Yg
y•, 4xf `. a Bronx,New York.
ROBERT CAoiNA
Revitalizing Cities
kt•-.... -1.,•••-I'll,. VII% -..,0 I. _ -,:g• •' *,.,-.. •• .-AA ‘' •••:;•1 ,_. _.r,
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F.N.St,
PHIL S CHERINIIISTIIII.
Rock climber In
Cantara,California.
3
E
f
n 1996,the Trust for Public Land helped add 17Y
acres to the Gauley River National Recreation Area in Nicholas O ,
County,West Virginia.The acquisition helped protect the fgt " '"r {
river's water quality,wooded banks,and scenic canyon.But it
was also driven by a bottom-line economic motive.Tourism is t -
West Virginia's fastest growing industry,and whitewater raft-
In
ing is one of that industry's fastest growing segments.Each fall s, rs
whitewater rafters come to run a 24-mile scenic stretch of the
Gauley River,pumping$2o million into the local economy.49 11 oM s a nisrcxea
Elsewhere in West Virginia,rafting provides i,000 seasonal Whitewater rafting is
jobs in Fayette County while contributing$5o million to the
an economic mainstay
of West Virginia's
local economies—mostly from the sale of videos,photos, rural communities.
T-shirts,cookbooks,food,and lodging.50 Gauley River National
Across the nation,parks,protected rivers,scenic lands, Recreation Area.
wildlife habitat,and recreational open space help support
a$502-billion tourism industry.Travel and tourism is the
nation's third largest retail sales industry,and tourism is one
of the country's largest employers,supporting 7 million jobs,
including 684,000 executive jobs.At present rates of growth,
the tourism/leisure industry will soon become the leading
U.S.industry of anykind.
51 Across the nation,parks,protected rivers,
Outdoor recreation,in particular,represents one of the
most vigorous growth areas in the U.S.economy.Much of this
scenic lands,wildlife habitat, and
recreation is supported by public andprivate parks and open recreational open space help support a
land.Popular outdoor recreational activities include hiking,
cam in biking, boating,fishing,swimming,
502-billion tourism industry.
P g. g g g g•skiing,
and snowmobiling.According to the Outdoor Recreation
Coalition of America,outdoor recreation generated at least
4o billion in 1996,accounting for 768,000 full-time jobs and
13 billion in annual wages.52
Protecting Tourism and Recreation Resources
Where do Americans go for recreation?A poll for the President's
Commission on Americans Outdoors found natural beauty
and quality of view to be the most important criteria for
tourists seeking outdoor recreation sites.53
Recognizing this,many communities now work to attract
tourists by protecting scenic views and vistas,moving utility
wires underground,and preserving trees and historic build 19.
Boosting Tourism
If-% i w, d we w_ If you develop everything,
you destroy what people come
z.,,..,,..„,„,-..A Now interested are hereto see.
r . Al Americans in guiding
growth and protect- BRUCE NOURJIA\
ing quality of life? President,Stowe Land Trust
One striking measure
WILLIAM POOLE
is the increasing
number of local,state,and regional land ings.In Stowe,Vermont—a popular resort and winter sports
trusts,grassroots nonprofit organizations center—developers seeking building permits must guarantee
that help communities conserve land—most preservation of scenic vistas and signature landscapes.
often by purchasing or accepting donations of People come to Vermont to see cows,pastures,green
land or conservation easements. fields and meadows,so protecting open space is healthy for
Accordingto the Land Trust Alliance,the our local economy.If you develop everything,you destroy
number of land trusts jumped 63 percent,to what people come here to see,"says Bruce Nourjian,a some-
more than 1,200,between 1988 and 1998,with
time developer and president of the Stowe Land Trust,which
the most dramatic growth coming in the Rocky
Mountain states(160 percent),the Southwest
over the past 12 years has protected over z,5oo acres in the
147 percent),and the South(118 percent). Stowe Valley.In Stowe,Nourjian adds,most developers sup-
In that same decade,land trusts con- port land conservation,because they know that by preserv-
served an area nearly the size of Connecticut, ing the area's rural character they are protecting the value of
more than doubling the land protected by land their investment.
trusts to 4.7 million acres.
Of that 4.7 million acres,1.4 million are The Value of Recreation on Federal Lands
protected by conservation easement,by far Other communities benefit from tourism and recreation on
the fastest growing land protection strategy nearby federal lands.The National Park Service estimates that
of local land trusts.A conservation easement, in 1993 national park visitors contributed more than$10 billion
sometimes called a"purchase of develop- in direct and indirect benefits to local economies.54 And recre-
ment rights,"limits development on land.De-ation is the second largest producer of direct revenue from U.S.
pending on how the easement is written,It Forest Service lands—bringing in more than grazing,power
may also preserve such essential productive
uses as farming,ranching,watershed protec-
generation and mining combined—and may account for as
tion,and recreation, much as 74 percent of the economic benefit from these lands
Land on which local land trusts hold when indirect contributions are taken into account.55
conservation easements increased nearly Many towns that traditionally have depended on logging,
400 percent between 1988 and 1998.In Mon- mining,and other extractive industries on public lands are
tans,where easements have become an im- now working to bolster local economies by attracting tourists.
portant tool for protecting ranchlands,land
trusts hold easements on more than a quarter
million acres.New York land trusts hold ease-
ments on nearly 200,000 acres;Vermont land
trusts on nearly 140,000 acres.
7aMorethanonemillionAmericansare
1 r 1
members and financial supporters of local land t5 j
i1/
4trusts.Land protected by local land trusts Wildlife watchers s-` o-
includes forests,wetlands,wildlife habitat, spent$29.2 billion
on trips,equipment,
yy.
historic landscapes,farmland,and ranches.ss
and other expendi- 30C
Netf:tures in 1996,accord
lngtothe U.S.Fish 4, '
and Wildlife Service.
CAROLYN PANNON
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
CaY *`F
F -
ff
x ori
t-1 2 Preserving open
4 i z
K-`'. `F„:1,-_,..-,€--.•,,,--_;-„:, 4 space is key to pro-
testing the rural char-LI
acter that attractssfi.
iiii ..
people to Stowe,
3
vi, IV'4°.,,,,..-4E r4.' r`
g Vermont.I esc
x
JEFF CLAAI(L
In Berlin,New Hampshire—a paper mill town adjacent to the
White Mountains National Forest,which attracts 6 million
visitors each year—environmentalists and businesspeople are
conducting"moose tours,"and planning excursions that
explore the history and heritage of the paper and pulp indus-r.
try.Tourists would learn how trees are grown and harvested,
and they would visit a paper mill and a model logging camp to
aIllil
understand what life was like when the local Androscoggin Amount that Maryland's Rural Legacy
River was filled with logs on the way to the mill. Program win spend to preserve farms and
We want to nurture the constituency that sees the eco-other rural open space in the next five years:
nomic value in conserving natural resources,because we think 70 million to$140 million
that will lead to more conservation,"says Marcel Polak,who Amount of land that will be protected by
explores alternative business opportunities that promote con- these funds:50,000-75,000 acres
servation efforts for the Appalachian Mountain Club(AMC) Amount of land conserved over the past ten
in the upper AndroscogginValley.s years with funds from Florida's Preservation
For such programs to succeed it is essential to protect
2000 Program:1 million acres
forestlands across a broad swath of New York and New
Proportion of voters that approved an
extension of the Preservation 2000 Program
England.These forests have supported communities for Ben-in November 1998:70 percent
erations,but global competition has weakened the forest
Annual amount from state lottery proceeds
products industry,and many timber companies seek to sell that Oregon voters set aside to purchase river
land for development.Unfortunately,the most desirable land corridors,watersheds and wetlands,and
for second homes and other development is also the most native salmon habitat in November 1998:
important for wildlife habitat and recreation. 45 million
Proportion of Oregon voters approving this
investment:67 percent
Minimum annual amount set aside by the
ripen space North Carolina legislature for dedicated Clean
b7.,ifl .1 l "
1
l"
1 1051 S Water Management Trust Fund:$30 million
t o Nev e Lf Tps ire
Amount granted for land conservation
C l
projects from the North Carolina Clean Water
Estimated annual value of open space to
59
Trust Fund since its inception in 1997:
the economy of New Hampshire:$8 billion 36 million
Approximate fraction of the state's total
economy this amount represents:25 percent
Number of jobs supported by New
Hampshire's open space:100,000
Annual contribution of open space to state
and local taxes:$891 million
Fraction of all state and local tax receipts
this contribution represents:35 percent59
Boosting Tourism
i r j
E 4 a•
41t
The San Antonio
ie* Riverwalk is the most
popular attraction insthecity's$3.5-billion74.sem '
tourist industry.
r-
LAURA A.Mc5 ov
d The lake frontage,river frontage,hillsides and ridges—
r-eriterilhe ' -the
rt1 very/al k
those are the places people want to build homes,"says Tom
Steinbach,the AMC's director of conservation."But if com-
In the early 1900s,engineers in San Antonio, munities don't preserve these lands,they will lose their future
Texas,planned to bury the San Antonio River economic base."
to prevent recurrent flooding.But citizens en-
visioninga riverfront park stopped the project. The Impact of Trails and Wildlife Tourism
Eventually a channel was cut,and flood- Hiking and biking trails can also stimulate tourism.Each year
gates were added to control flooding.Trees ioo,000 people come to ride the famous Slickrock Mountain
and shrubs were planted,and a mile and a half
Bike Trail near Moab,Utah.The trail generates$1.3 million in
of walkways were added along the shore.
annual receipts for Moab,part of$86 million spent by visitors
Stairways connected the walkways to city
streets,and 21 pedestrian bridges spanned
to nearby desert attractions that include Arches and Canyon-
the river.Riverside buildings,which had long lands National Parks.In 1995,tourism in Moab supported
faced away from the waterway,were given 1,750 jobs,generated nearly$1.7 million in taxes,and account-
new entrances facing the park. ed for 78 percent of the local economy.
6°
Created for$425,000,the park has been Trails along former railroad corridors also pay handsome
enlarged twice,including the addition of new dividends.In recent years the federal government has invested
canals and walkways.Today.Paseo del Rio is more than$300 million in more than 9,500 miles of rail trails
lined with outdoor cafes,shops.bars,art gal- in 48 states,and this investment is already paying off.6'For
leries,and hotels—an irreplaceable retreat for example,in Dunedin,Florida,store vacancy rates tumbled
city residents and workers.The Riverwalk has from 35 percent to zero after the Pinellas Trail was built through
also overtaken the Alamo as the single most town beginning in 1990.621n 1994 the Maryland Greenway
popular attraction for the city's$3.5-billion
Commission authorized a study of the zo-mile Northern
tourist industry.65 Central Rail Trail near Baltimore.Researchers found that
whereas the trail cost$191,893 to maintain and operate in 1993,
that same year it returned$304,000 in state and local taxes.63
In another study,the National Park Service found that three
rail trails—in Iowa,Florida,and California—contributed
between$1.2 million and$1.9 million per year to their home
communities.64
Natural open space supports fishing,bunting,and other
wildlife-based tourism.Sport fishing alone boosted the
nation's economy by$108.4 billion in 1996,supporting 1.2 mil-
lion jobs and generating household income of$28.3 billion.
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
At present rates of growth,the tourism/Recreation
leisure industry will soon become the leading PIM 4- Profit
U.S.industry of any kind. Annual contribution of river-rafting and
kayaking to the economy of Colorado:
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 50 trillion 70
Amount outdoor recreation adds to the
economy of Arkansas each year:$1.5 billion 71
Amount of this figure contributed by canoe-
Sport fishing added$2.4 billion to state tax coffers—nearly ing:$20.1 million 72
1 percent of all state tax receipts—while contributing$3.1 bil- Amount spent by Americans on the
lion in federal income taxes.66 Another$85.4 billion is generat- purchase of canoes and kayaks in 1996:
ed for the U.S.economy each year by people who feed birds or
899.1 million 73
observe and photograph wildlife.67 Amount spent on hiking footwear each year:
374 million 74
Funding Resources for Tourists
Contribution of sport fishing to the economy
of California in 1996:$7.1 billion 7s
Recognizing the connection between open space and tourism,
Annual value of hunting,camping,fishing,
some communities have begun taxing tourists to raise funds and horseback riding on federal Bureau of
for park and open space preservation.In 1985 the Montana leg- Land Management lands:$376 million 76
islature authorized some small communities that derive a large Annual value of sport fishing on U.S.Forest
portion of their income from tourism to levy a sales tax of up Service land:$1.2 billion 77
to 3 percent on tourist-related goods and services to pay for Rank of recreation among all economic
infrastructure and tourist services,including parks and recre- activities on U.S.Forest Service lands:278
ational services.Using receipts from this tax,the town of Visits to national wildlife refuges in 1995:
Whitefish,Montana is building a bike path.68 27.7 million76
Flagstaff,Arizona,is another community that supports
Revenue of local businesses from these visi-
parks and land acquisition using funds generated by tourists.
tors:5401 million 80
Two million tourists visit this community of 5o,000 people
Income from the 10,000 jobs supported by
these visitors:$162.9 million 6x
each year,attracted by nearby Indian ruins,skiing,national
forests and Grand Canyon National Park.In 1988,the city
passed a 2 percent"bed,board,and booze"tax(known locally
as the BBB tax),which currently raises$3.3 million each year.
A third of the money goes to city park improvements,and an
additional portion goes to city beautification and land acquisi-
tion.The funds are helping to build a 27.5-mile urban trail sys-
tem connecting neighborhoods,commercial areas,and
national forestlands°
As travel and tourism swells to become the nation's lead-
ing industry within the next few years,communities from
coast to coast are coming to see their parks and open lands in
a new light.Long appreciated as resources for residents,in-
creasingly they are being appreciated for their attraction
tor
In 1996,sport fishing 4 i ; - '4,'
r.visitors and as economic engines for the next millennium, contributed$7.1 billion x.,. -
01/:
41
to California's econo-s r; y
my.East Walker River,
Bridgeport,California. W '"'
PHILSCHBRMEISTBH
Boosting Tourism
s
M =,-i`-- -_,--71.,--
x
p•of w...:..
fit. it:
µ
r.p
1
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or L.,
y
r 1;"PX—'- „SMS 4.•. 1 ?, ,A.S 3
Y..
y
v
1',CAROLYN
rrte y. ',w..c.- r =r-f
7 «3
T
r
ocated in rolling,coastal hills north of 1
t s
San Francisco,the dairy farm of the Straus Family Creamery
fir=
occupies some of the potentially most valuable land in
f tom
California.In the 48 years that Ellen and Bill Straus have srevem sw aus s
owned their Marin County farm,they have seen other farms
Conservation ease
ments safeguard
give way to development up and down the California coast. Marin County,Califor-
But we think farming is important,and we love this land," nia ranches from
Ellen Straus says.So the couple has turned down many
development.The
lucrative offers for the land and hopes to pass the farm on to
county,which adjoins
San Francisco,gener-
their children. ated$57 million in
To protect her land,Ellen Straus became an open space agricultural products
advocate.In 198o,Straus cofounded the Marin Agricultural in 1997.
Land Trust(MALT),established with the help of the Trust for
Public Land.MALT and other agricultural land trusts use pub- Fr Sj)i (J )•i c
lic or donated funds to purchase the development rights to
agricultural land. The purchase of development rights reduces
the taxable value of the land so that a family can afford to keep Fresno County,in the heart of the fertile San
it in agriculture. The purchase reimburses the farmer for the Joaquin Valley of California,is the nation's top
economic benefit the open land brings to the community.
producing agricultural county,generating$3.3
billion in gross agricultural revenues each
Some farmers use the funds to buy new equipment or upgrade year.But if current development patterns con-
the farm.tinue,the county's population Is expected to
Using such techniques,MALT has helped protect 38 farms,
triple over the next 40 years,consuming near-
totaling more than 25,000 acres of agricultural open space in ly 20 percent of agricultural land.
Marin County since 198o—including the 660-acre Straus farm, In response,farm and business groups
which has since become the first organic dairy and creamery have formed the Growth Alternatives Alliance
west of the Mississippi.81 to work against farmland loss.In a 1998
In addition to protecting farms,vistas,and the character report,"A Landscape of Choice:Strategies
of rural communities,MALT's work has protected an irre- for Improving Patterns of Community Growth."
placeable economic asset.Marin County generated more than the Alliance proposed a plan that would direct
57 million in agricultural production in 1997,including$35 development away from valuable farmland
million in milk and other livestock products.Two decades and into somewhat denser,mixed-use,ped-
after MarM County pastures were first threatened by
estrian-friencliy neighborhoods in existing
communities.
encroaching development,milk remains the county's most According to the report.`Each acre of
important agricultural product.83
irrigated agricultural land should be consid-
ered a factory that produces between$6,000
to$12,000 per year for the local economy.
The loss of even 1,000 acres of agricultural
land can remove as much as$15 million from
our local domestic product."84
Protecting Farms and Ranches
rare, + '
mac` .., , - •--
a,
D. The Value of Endangered FarmlandThenation's farms and ranches are often referred to as"work-
g g Pinlandscapes"because of the food and fiber the produce.
y sem ,sae Y
F.' , The best of these lands are literally irreplaceable,their agricul
EVAN jOHNSoN turas productivity the result of geologic and climatic factors
Productive farmland
is being lost to deveE that cannot be reproduced.Even though they also have value
opment at a rate of as developable land,their highest economic use derives from
50 acres every hour.their long-term productivity as farms and ranches.
Sonoma County,If agriculture is going to be a vital part of a community orCalifornia.
valley or region,then it's vitally important that a critical mass
of farmland be permanently protected,"says Ralph Grossi,Let them Ott s praw1?president of the American Farmland Trust(AFT),which
works to preserve the nation's farmland.
A recent report by the U.S.Department of American agriculture is an industry of great value.Ac-
Agriculture documents the loss of U.S.farm cording to the U.S.Department of Agriculture,farm receipts
land.During 1992-1997,the report found, reached a record$202.3 billion in 1997,generating approxi-
nearly 14 million acres of farmland were taken mately$5o billion in farm income that was cycled through
out of production—nearly 320 acres every local communities.That same year the U.S.exported$57bil-
hour.$s lion in agricultural products,which accounted for a$21 billion
Reaction to the report singled out sprawl balance-of-trade surplus for such products.
development as a prime culprit.Unfortunately,the land that supports this valuable
There's a market force at work that industry faces increasing pressure from suburban growth
makes it more and more difficult for the
and second-home development.The AFT estimates that 13
farmer,"banker Jim Kommertzheim told
million acres of open land were converted to urban uses
Kansas's Wichita Eagle."Demand for land for
home development increases the price to the
between 1982 and 1992.Of this,32 percent-4.2 million
point where a farmer can't afford to buy It for acres—was prime or unique farmland. During these years,
agricultural production."57 prime farmland was lost to development at the rate of nearly
Scott Everett of the Michigan Farm 5o acres every hour.ss
Bureau also blamed urban sprawl for driving up Farms are often the most stable part of the local econo-
the price of farmland."Once the erosion of our my,"says AFT's Ralph Grossi."They have been passed down
land base begins to affect production."he for generations and tend to stay put rather than move around
said,"you're never going to be able to turn it as other jobs and businesses do.Agriculture lends economic
around."88 stability to a community,providing a net inflow of dollars—
year in,year out—from the sale of agricultural products."
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
If agriculture is going to be a vital part of a community or4,L___,zr.,_3 valley or region, then it's vitally important that a critical
k„..,, .... '% .,,,
mass offarmland be permanently protected.
mi4
y RALPH GROSSI
c
f President,American Farmland Trust
RICE TANG
Ralph Grossi.
Lands under the most imminent threat of development 1C . i your
PDR;.
produce 79 percent of the nation's fruit,69 percent of its veg-
etables,52 percent of its dairy products,28 percent of its meat,
States and communities use several tech-
and 27 percent of its grain.AFT estimates that if present trends
niques to help keep farmland and ranchland in
continue,by 2050 farmers and ranchers could be required to agriculture.In some instances farmland may
produce food for 5o percent more Americans on 13 percent less
be taxed at a special lower rate so long as it
land,and that the nation might eventually become a net food is used for farming.But states and communi-
importer.89
ties are increasingly purchasing the develop-
ment rights to agricultural land and restrict-
Protecting RaneMand& ing this land to farm,woodland,or other open
In the West,where"wide open spaces"aren't as wide or as space use.
open as they used to be,communities are scrambling to pro- Purchase-of-development-rights(PDR)
tect land that supports the economic engines of ranching, programs began on the East Coast and have
tourism,and business growth.The West has experienced since spread across the country.Fifteen
explosive growth in recent decades.As land values rise,ranch- states and dozens of county and municipal
ing families are pressured to sell what is often a region's most
governments now sponsor PDR programs,
with funds for some transactions coming frombeautifulandproductivelandsfordevelopment.Typically,a
both state and local sources.State PDR
family may be forced to sell to finance education or retirement programs alone have protected more than
or to pay crushing inheritance taxes on steeply appreciating 470,000 acres.
property.As a result in some areas,open range is fast disap- Maryland,among the first states to launch
pearing.As fences go up,the health of the grasslands is corn-a PDR program(in 1977),has protected
promised and wildlife corridors are cut. nearly 140,000 acres of farmland.Other states
Although communities across the West are working to with major POR programs include Vermont,
preserve ranches,activity is particularly intense in Colorado, hew Jersey,Massachusetts,and Connecticut 92
which is losing 90,000 acres of ranchland each year.9O In 1992,
the state launched Great Outdoors Colorado(GOCO),a
grants program funded by state lottery revenues that supports 5
wildlife preservation,recreation programs,and open space I. 2
acquisition.Since 1994,GOCO has awarded$145 million in r
grants to state agencies,counties and municipalities,park and
recreation districts,and nonprofit land conservation organiza- e l,r '`
tions.Of these funds,$35 million helped protect more than 1 I
60,000 acres of open space."
Traverse City,Michl
gan's orchards
are losing ground to
development. a A
TERRY W.Primps _
Protecting Farms and Ranches
b P ' i 7±, Z-Z WM
s s z r tom- 2`- '2a``5`
Si -
ftd 1 7 ` ,:
thyxt,- 4
Lp ' 4d t FF
iiak
5 .-
a.,
r
5oJ ..
v`
R .
L,
P {+.
AX':;;
m
moiy,,.. L4 a' "
F5 —
A .. t,
T3
ERIC SWANSON E7J1 ,133ME(d pl{;L
Recreation and tour- st
ism bring both dollars ED 879, Local land protection efforts are also under way in several
and development.
Gunnison County,rural Colorado counties that are threatened by development.
Colorado,and other 7F.In Gunnison County,home to the Crested Butte ski resort and
rural communities l'4'1---:- ill/ mountain bike center,efforts have focused on preserving a
are tryinghn to balanceei t,., - 1 critical mass of ranchland,especially private land that offersgrowthandtheirVadi- p y
Dtionalwayoflife. olAo HARP access to summer grazing allotments on U.S.Forest Service
land.These lands also provide habitat for wildlife that attracts
tourists,hunters,and anglers.Hunting and fishing alone con-
tribute more than$62 million each year to the Gunnison
County economy.93
Ranchiands and Tourism
Ranchland protection also helps safeguard the tourist econo-
my by preserving the vistas and open landscapes tourists love,
says Will Shafroth,executive director of GOCO,which has
channeled more than$2.5 million of state lottery funds into
SA..v irig' a bi 1 ion dollarar.bre=1dbaa et
s N<
t Each year,urban sprawl consumes 15,000 Compact,efficient growth would slash
f - f-- w acres of farmland in the Central Valley of farmland conversion in half between now and
7-A ":-'71V-:-:'*"r3''::11 California,the nation's most productive agri the year 2040.
cs=- >
F A
cultural region.At current growth rates and While agricultural sales and related eco-
MICHAEL K.NIcnons
Higher density Bevel development patterns,the valley's$13 billion nomic benefits would decline under both
opment could protect in annual production will be slashed by$2.1 growth scenarios,compact growth would
farmland and save bil- billion a year by 2040—a reduction equivalent reduce this loss by more than half,saving
lions in tax dollars in to the current agricultural production of New communities$72 billion by 2040.
California's Central
York,Virginia,Oregon,or Mississippi. Farmland protection and efficient growth
Valley.
A 1995 study for American Farmland would save 21,500 jobs,equivalent to the
Trust examined two growth scenarios for the number of civilian Jobs lost in California during
Central Valley.In one,development contin- the recent round of military base closings.
ued at its current density of three dwelling Because low-density growth costs govern.
units per acre.In the other scenario,this ments more to service than does high-density
rate of growth was doubled,to six dwelling development,farmland protection and effi-
units per acre.Among the study's finding are tient growth could save Central Valley taxpay-
the following: ers$1.2 billion each year.94
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
In Colorado communities lacking a land pro-
tection program, 63 percent of survey respondents tae tower
wanted one;in communities that already had a More than 40 studies from 11 states have
found that farms can save communities money
program, 81 percent approved of it. by contributing more in taxes than they demand
in tax-supported services.
Examples include:
Hebron,CT:Farms required$0.43 in ser-
the purchase of agricultural easements in Gunnison County. vices for every dollar they generated in taxes.
Surveys tell us that the people who come to Crested Butte to In contrast,residential properties required
ski in the winter and mountain bike in the summer place a 1.06 in services for every dollar contributed
very high value on open space,"Shafroth says."They leave the
in taxes.
airport and they don't have to drive through subdivision after
Minneapolis-St.Paul,MN:In three nearby
rural communities,farms drew an average of
subdivision to get to the ski area.Some ski areas may have 0.50 in services for every tax dollar paid.
great skiing,but their surroundings are less interesting Residential properties required an average
because they're completely paved over."
of$1.04 in services for every tax dollar.
GOCO's efforts in Gunnison County have been in cooper- Dunn,WI:Farms required$0.18 cents in
ation with the Gunnison Ranching Legacy Project,a local services for every tax dollar:residential devel-
group dedicated to ranchland preservation 95 Other funding opment cost taxpayers$1.06 for every tax
for land protection has come from county and local sources.In dollar collected.s7
1991,Crested Butte began collecting a real estate transfer tax
that has raised more than$1.5 million for open space conserva-
tion,and in 1997 county residents passed a dedicated sales tax
to fund open space protection.
In addition,more than ioo Crested Butte merchants col-
lect an informal 1 percent sales tax and donate the money to
the Crested Butte Land Trust and the Gunnison Ranching
Legacy Program.The idea for this voluntary customer dona-
tion was generated by the merchants themselves.The dona-
tion program raised an estimated$ioo,000 for land protection t
in 1998.Working together,the town of Crested Butte and the
xN rti
Crested Butte Land Trust have helped protect more than 1,000
uy
acres around their mountain community."There're just a lot
Ft
l
r Y t •.R 7
of people in this town that really value open space,"says town
fr"
d
planner John Hess. t `
Throughout Colorado,29 counties and municipalities levy q"
f
taxes or have approved bonds to fund the protection of agri
cultural lands and other open space,and the number is grow-
Y
4
N
ing.An October 1998 poll of boo randomly selected Colorado a '
L
residents found strongapproval for local land protection pro-4,11
grams.In Colorado communities lacking a land protection SO SAN t ev,nee
program,63 percent of the respondents wanted one;in corn- TPL helped save the
munities that already had a program,81 percent approved of last working farm In
Billerica,Massachu-
it.vb In Colorado—as across the nation—communities are rec- setts,from develop-
ognizing that once farms,ranches,and other open space are ment as a discount
gone,the economies they support are lost forever. chain store.
Protecting Farms and Ranches
i
i',-
wit
4 '
4
e,.al .,/,.._...'',%e. a 4 0-t -r
4
te a 4 ,- '.` s
moi .' µ
y
T
Y
1
j RICHARD DAY/DAYBREAK
IMAGERY Inappropriately
sited development costs
bil-lions in flood
damage.Alma,
Save the bays
Only 40 miles from
New York City.
Ocean County,New
Jersey,is among the
fastest growing
counties in theApexTfillaarn
loods along Northern California's Napa River have Students test the waters nation's most
caused an average of$io million in property damage each year of Barnegat Bay,New densely populated
since 196o.It's not that engineers haven't tried to control the Jersey. state.It is also a
river's rages.Like many rivers,the Napa River—which flows place of great natural beauty and home to a
through the famous Napa Valley wine-growing region—has network of streams arid marshes along slen-
been dredged and channeled.Levees have been built,and the tier Barnegat Bay.
river's banks have been fortified with concrete.Still,seasonal
Inappropriate development across Ocean
floods have wreaked havoc on lives and property and threat-
County is polluting the ground water and
threatening the quality of life.Despite this,
ened to disrupt the valley's lucrative tourist trade.
county leaders were long reluctant to ask v°t-
But in 1998,Napa County voters approved funding for
ere to spend money on open space protection,
a radical new river-management plan.Instead of trying to fearing that the largely Republican and senior
control the river,the engineers will let it flow,and Soo acres electorate would not support new property
of floodplain will be acquired to accommodate winter rains.taxes for land conservation.
Bridges will be raised,some levees will be lowered,and 17 But polling and other research by the
homes in the floodplain will be purchased and demolished,as Trust for Public Land suggested that voters
will several businesses and a trailer park.The estimated cost: would support local open space funding.TPL
160 million to"fix"a river that has done$50o million in flood helped organize a citizens committee to pro-
damage since 1960.9$ mote a property tax measure and helped draft
According to the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers,flood a measure that their research indicated voters
damages in the U.S.average$4.3 billion each year.99 But a pro-
would support.When county leaders approved
tected floodplain contains no property to be damaged and acts
the measure for the November 1997 ballot.
TPL made a grant to a community organization
as a permanent"safety valve"for flooding,reducing destruc-ts educate the public about the issue.
tion to developed areas downstream.A 1993 study by the Today,Ocean County is one of 16 New
Illinois State Water Survey found that for every 1 percent Jersey counties and 99 municipalities to have
increase in protected wetlands along a stream corridor,peak dedicated open space trust funds,making
stream flows decreased by 3.7 percent.'°° them eligible for state grants.Ocean County's
Communities across the nation are learning that building measure is expected to generate$4 million
in floodplains is an invitation to disaster,despite expensive annually to protect watershed and agricul-
dike and levee systems that simply increase flooding farther turas lands.
downstream.Expense piles on expense as residents and busi-
nesses demand costly drainage improvements,flood control
projects,flood insurance,and disaster relief.In the heavily
developed floodplain of New Jersey's Passaic River,for exam-
ple,inappropriate development resulted in$400 million in
flood damages in 1984 alone.One mitigation proposal envi-
sions construction of a$2.2 billion tunnel;another would
require the purchase and condemnation of 774 homes.101
Preventing Flood Damage
x dap no. t Abe ,Bits o--f'
the -Forests and the trees
r• # y longer be able to afford to pay property taxes,
1 1'_ ""` y . ^ I and families of deceased timber owners may
iiLfirt A
12P:.::'
have to sell the land to pay crushing inheri-
4'- 1J i tante taxes.
e.. r a
7 f _ According to the Pacific Forest Trust,
r
s,
i O i
i,,
0 which protects timberland through conserve-
4 x t},,. '
At i ' tion easements,some nine million acres of
f forestland—one quarter of all private hold-
fes s 4 i i y Ings—may be In danger of conversion to non-
s forest use in the Pacific Northwest alone.1°3
14=1 #- - 4 Just as an agricultural easement pro-
1
CRs V-*
hibits development while allowing a farmer to
NANCV WA0.N8A.PACV(CFOREST TRUST farm,a timberland easement prohibits devel-
Susan Pritchard of the Pacific Forest Trust visits a opment while allowing a specified level of tim-
sustainably-managed forest protected from devel- ber harvest.The easement reduces the tax-
opment by conservation easements.
able value of the land,so a landowner can
afford to keep it in forest,and preserves the
Private timberlands contribute to community forest's economic value while reducing the
economies through the production of lumber community's costs for schools,roads,and
and other forest products,by hosting recre- other development-related infrastructure.
ation and tourism,and by performing vital In recognition of the need to conserve
ecological and biological services such as working forests,in 1990 Congress created
cleaning the air,stabilizing watersheds,and the Forest Legacy Program to fund purchases
safeguarding biodiversity.of forestland and easements.104 By 1998,the
In Virginia,for example—where 77 per- program had distributed approximately$38
cent of more than 15.4 million acres of tim- million—barely enough to make a dent in con-
berland is held by more than 400,000 private servation needs.
landowners—timber production and wood pro- In 1999,as part of Its effort to increase
cessing contribute$11.5 billion a year to the federal funding for land protection,the Clinton
state economy and employ 220.000 workers. administration requested$50 million in
Wildlife and forest-based recreation con- Forest Legacy funds.Other money for forest
tribute an additional$11.7 billion.loz protection comes from state and local pro-
But as the timberland becomes valuable grams.Many forest easements are held by
for development,small timber owners may no the nation's more than 1,200 local land trusts.
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
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DON AIRY!,NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Green heron.
A protectedfloodplain that doubles as a wildlife
t
Voters in Arnold, ,.
refuge or recreation area may generate economic Missouri,passed
a bond initiative tobenefitsbyattractinghunters, birdwatchers, and raise funds to buy
other"tourists to a community.
endangered open
space.
Mixe Moose
7t '{ }' Meramec Rivers in 1993.The assistance was awarded in part
e because of the town's strong flood-mitigation program,which
pincludes the purchase of damaged or destroyed properties and
Proportion of tree cover in the total land a greenway along the Mississippi River floodplain.In 1995,
area of Atlanta,Georgia:27 percent another large flood struck Arnold,but this time damage
Estimated annual value of this tree cover to amounted to less than$40,000 because of public acquisition
improving Atlanta's air quality:$15 million of flood-prone and flood-damaged properties."O
Additional annual economic benefits to air FEMA estimates that federal,state,and local governments
quality that would be realized if Atlanta's tree
spent a total of$203 million acquiring,elevating or removingcoverwereincreasedto40percent,the pro-
portion recommended by the forestry organi-
damaged properties from floodplains after the 1993 floods.
ration American Forests:$7 million
This mitigation resulted in an estimated$304 million in
The amount Atlanta's current tree cover reduced future disaster damages.111
has saved by preventing the need for stormwa- Protected floodplains also create economic benefits by
ter retention facilities:$863 million providing open space for recreation,wildlife habitat,and farm-
Additional economic benefits in stormwater ing.A protected floodplain that doubles as a wildlife refuge or
retention that would be realized if Atlanta's recreation area may generate economic benefits by attracting
tree cover were increased to 40 percent: hunters,birdwatchers,and other tourists to a community.
358 million In the Katy Prairie near Houston,Texas,the Trust for
Decline in natural tree cover in the Atlanta Public Land is helping flood control officials and a local land
metropolitan area since 1972:60 percent 113
conservancy to purchase agricultural land to serve as a safety
valve for seasonal flooding.Much of the land is leased to farm-
ers for growing rice,and it also serves as critical habitat for
migratory waterfowl,which attract bird watchers and hunters.
Each dollar invested in the project will yield multiple econom-
ic benefits that promote local industries and tourism.112
h T tty
R
Acquiring land,along
with elevating and
removing properties
after the 1993 mid-
west floods saved an
estimated$304 m11-
lion
il-
lion in future flood
RICHARD DAY/DAYBREAK IMAGERY
damages.
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
Governments at all levels areprohibiting
development infloodplains or are acquiring
these landsforpermanentfloodprotection.r
RICHARD DAY/DAYBREAK IMAGERY
Standing levee along the
Mississippi River.
1- Communities Acquire Floodplains
No wonder that more and more governments at all levels are
prohibiting development in floodplains or are acquiring flood-
plains for permanent flood protection.Near Boston,for exam-
ple,officials protected—through purchase or easement—over
8,000 acres of wetlands along the Charles River that are capa-
ble of containing 5o,000 acre-feet of water as an alternative to Opesi space in
a$100 million system of dams and levees.Loss of these wet-
lands would have caused an estimated$17 million in flood
damage annually.1O5 Proportion of proceeds from Minnesota
Similarly,the residents of Littleton,Colorado,created a state lottery dedicated to that state's
625-acre park and seasonal wetland rather than channel 2.5 Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund
miles of the South Platte River.(Local bonds and federal since its establishment in 1988:40 percent
grants paid for the floodplain acquisition.)1°6 Amount granted from that fund in its first
Some towns have even relocated to avoid the ongoing
decade to protect land and complete other
environmental projects:$82.8 million
expense and trauma of trying to prevent—and rebuild after—
Proportion of Minnesota voters that in
a disastrous flood.In 1978,the entire population of Soldiers
November 1998 approved a 25-year extension
Grove,Wisconsin,moved out of reach of the Kickapoo River
of the Environment and Natural Resources
to avoid the devastating floods that had descended once each Trust Fund:77 percent
decade.The U.S.Army Corps of Engineers proposed a$3.5 Annual amount expected to be generated
million levee to protect the town,but maintenance expenses by this fund by the year 2010:$50 million 1°9
would have been double the town's annual property tax
receipts.It cost the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban
Development$1 million to move the town,saving an estimat-
ed$127,000 a year in flood damage.107
Because of the high cost of recurring flood damage,in
1988 the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) The town of Valmeyer,Illinois was
relocated to save money spent on
announced that in the future it would work to relocate homes flood damage.
and businesses out of the path of"recurring natural disasters." RICHARD DAV/DAYBRRAK IMAGBRV
Valmeyer,Illinois,relocated out of the reach of the
Mississippi River after the Midwest floods of 1993—the most
costly in U.S.history,with damage estimates between$12 bil-
lion and$16 billion.Residents of Valmeyer(pop.900),30
miles south of St.Louis,reestablished their town on a nearby
hill after FEMA announced it would help rebuild homes only
in a new,higher location.108
FEMA granted$z million dollars in disaster assistance
to Arnold,Missouri,after flooding by the Mississippi and I.. i i
Communities are realizing that
keeping water clean is almost always
cheaper than cleaning it up.
I terling Forest,on the New York-New
Jersey border,is more than just apretty woodland.The 16,000-
increase in chlorine added to Chicago's acre forest gathers drinking water for more than two million
drinking water as a result of source contami- people—a quarter of New Jersey's population.A few years ago
nation since 1965:30 percent the private owners of the forest proposed the construction of
Increase in Cincinnati water bills to pay for 13,000 homes,eight million square feet of commercial and
activated carbon filtration needed to remove light industrial development,and three golf courses.New
pesticide contamination:10 percent Jersey officials calculated that this would so pollute the water-
Amount spent to protect Milwaukee drink- shed that a new filtration plant would be required.Estimated
ing water against Cryptosporidium bacteria, COSt:$160 million.
which killed 103 residents in 1993:$54 million As an alternative,New Jersey officials offered$io million
Annual reduction in water treatment costs toward the purchase of the land.The Trust for Public Land
after the city of Gastonia,North Carolina,relo-and the Open Space Institute entered negotiations with the
cated its drinking water intake to a lake with-
out surrounding development:S250,000 owners and helped raise$55 million from public and private
Estimated cost to New York City to buy sources to preserve more than 90 percent of Sterling Forest.
watershed lands to protect upstate drinking The purchase helped consolidate 15o,000 contiguous acres of
water supplies:$1.5 billionparks and protected land,conserving important habitat for
Estimated cost to New York City to build a bears,bobcats,beavers,and birds,including scarlet tanagers,
filtration plant if upstate watershed lands are while protecting seven miles of the Appalachian Trail.Ila
developed:$S billion to$8 billion 117 Communities nationwide face billions of dollars in
expenses to treat polluted drinking water.Development of
watersheds brings pollution from septic and sewer systems,
The purchase of watershed from lawn and garden chemicals,and from highway runoff.
lands can provide clean Currently,36 million Americans drink water from sources that
drinking water without con-
strutting an expensive violate EPA contaminant standards,and the agency has esti-
treatment plant.Sterling mated that$140 billion will be needed over the next zo years to
Forest,New York. make drinking water safe.1Y5
As a result,more and more communities are realizing that
keeping water clean is almost always cheaper than cleaning it
F;.
j up.Recognizing this,Congress has authorized the use of a por-
t«
tion of federal clean water funds for watershed acquisition.A
4L N' 1991 study by the American Water Works Research Foundation
concluded that"the most effective way to ensure the long-
AW j term protection of water supplies is through land ownership."
116
Other communities also are reducing filtration costs by
protecting watersheds:
New York City is spending$1.5 billion to protect 80,000
acres of its upstate watershed—which seems like a lot of
money until you understand that the alternative is an$8 billion
CESAR AL ONSO
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
Securing land around
r
A1.1MountainIslandLake - : 111Vjsxv ,,
and its tributaries will s tt
protect the primary
drinking water source for ;_
1..,
Estimated annual value of water quality
metropolitan Charlotte, improvement by wetlands along a three-
North Carolina.WAYNE Moants mile stretch of Georgia's Alchovy River:
3 million 119
Estimated fraction of U.S.commercially
valuable fish and shellfish that are spawned in
water filtration plant that would require an additional$300 wetland habitat:75-90 percent 120
million a year in operating cOsts.' Estimated annual value of water storage
With TPL's help,the San Antonio(Texas)Water System and and aquifer recharge in a single 557,000-acre
the Edwards Underground Water District recently acquired Florida swamp:$25 million in
more than 5,000 acres atop the Edwards Aquifer,where develop-
Estimated value of all economic benefits
generated by a single acre of wetland:
ment would have polluted drinking water for 1.5 million people.
szz
In North Carolina,TPL recently purchased and conveyed to
1.50,000 to$2oo,®00
Mecklenburg County 1,300 acres on Mountain Island Lake,the
water source for over half a million people in and around Charlotte.
In 1996 the North Carolina legislature guaranteed at least$30 mil-
lion a year to protect the state's water resources—including funds
for the purchase of watershed land and easements.
Other communities are working to protect both water
quality and water quantity by guaranteeing that rainwater
recharges underground aquifers.Pervasive development can
cover large areas with impervious surfaces(such as roads and
rooftops)which shunt runoff away from drinking water
aquifers and into culverts and streams.In these areas,there is
simply not enough undeveloped open space to absorb rainfall.
e the S P e c l ,r.
l t;y:s s ;1 i i:,9 a I q
7F S' ,yy '* a a '...,-
k
Natural ecosystems support endangered tern of habitat reserves while easing develop-
f
species and other genetic resources of Incal- ment regulations on less sensitive land. w-
r,"4:9,,,,f'
culable economic and biological value-In In support of this program,the Trust for f+ ' +
r w
recognition of this value,state and federal Public Land has purchased and transferred to f e y
laws protect endangered species in the path public ownership several crucial parcels, i.e" ,e, s -
of development.But these essential laws including songbird habitat along the
can also prompt costly litigation and devel- Sweetwater River;coastal sage habitat in the 1,--_',; '
gyp -?
fix e-,„
44;
d
opment delays without guaranteeing the net• Tijuana River Estuarine Research Reserve;
Nt,_ 4.
FT -` .r
4,'
1 it-,''F ;
r4':
9y --4-. .?,
i, '
qvI4
work of protected habitat a species may breeding ground for the endangered California1:,,,-4 ,iC +y
need to survive. gnatcatcher;and five square miles of mesa. 4",
f'.-71_,:--,-r.i _,
Booming San Diego County,California— woodlands,meadows,and wetlands within k
9 47li
often cited as an endangered species"hot Escondido city limits. F "." - at-
spot"—is pioneering an alternative approach Such efforts support community econ-
AN rNO]v Mceaxce
California gnatcatcher.
to endangered species protection.Under the omies by allowing guided development to contin-
auspices of California's Natural Communities ue while protecting valuable biological resources.
Conservation Program,local,state,and feder- By protecting the land on which other species
al officials are working with landowners and live,we also protect the ecosystems on which
conservation groups to develop a regional sys- all species—including our own—depend.
Safeguarding the Environment
1
Bankingng and Researchers settled on$33 trillion a
on the cia-pe year as the most likely value of nature's
Long a favorite with summer vacationers,worldwide environmental services.
Cape Cod has been the fastest growing region
of Massachusetts in recent years.The Upper
Cape has become an extension of the Boston
megalopolis 90 miles to the northwest.
Elsewhere.summer homes have been convert-
ed to year-round residences for retirees and A 1998 report by the Massachusetts Clean Water Council
telecommuters. showed that as much as 3o percent of that state's natural
In some communities,development has groundwater recharge maybe lost due to development.123
been so furious that property taxes have dou-
bled to pay for schools and other services.The Nature's Economic Services
water table is being polluted by septic tanks.
Watershed conservation is only the most obvious way that
and roads are clogged with traffic.
protected open space can help communities meet environ-
In November 1998,voters decided that
one sure way to protect the Cape's open land
mental goals in a cost-effective manner.Open land provides
was to buy it.Fifteen communities—every
the space for nature to perform life-sustaining services that
town on Cape Cod—passed a 3 percent prop- otherwise would have to be provided technologically at great
erty tax surcharge to fund the purchase of expense:
open space for a Cape Cod Land Bank,at an degradation of organic wastes
average annual cost of$57 per household. filtration of pollutants from soil and water
People have to understand that every buffering of air pollutants
parcel that isn't saved is going to cost them, moderation of climatic change
both In higher taxes and in a deteriorating conservation of soil and water
lifestyle,"said Representative Eric Turkington, provision of medicines,pigments,and spices
who sponsored the state enabling legislation preservation of genetic diversity
that made the votes possible.126 pollination of food crops and other plants
In one much-quoted study,13 researchers led by Robert
Costanza,an ecological economist at the University of
Maryland,judged the worldwide annual value of 17 natural
g , ti environmental services to be between$16 trillion and$54 tril-
41-k4,
4s,
hon.Within this range,the researchers settled on$33 trillion a
I"I, jib year as the most likely value of nature's worldwide environ-
y mental services.124
The Value of Wetlands,
r °' Forests and Wooded Buffers
elr Forested open space and wetlands are particularly valuable.
T_- F .:-; Trees control erosion,help clean the air of pollutants,mitigate
RODL0.T CADLNA
global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide and other green-Wetlands fitter pollu-
tants and are essential house gasses,and help shelter and cool our homes.The for-
to fisheries.Barnegat estry organization American Forests estimates that trees in the
Bay,New Jersey. nation's metropolitan areas contribute$400 billion in storm-
water retention alone—by eliminating the need for expensive
stormwater retention facilities.125
Wetlands serve as wildlife habitat,absorb storm and flood
water,and reduce pollutant and sediment loads in watershed
THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACE
rte^
Protecting the Barton
Creek watershed from
development preserves
Austin,Texas's wildlife
i
and water quality.
d K
s '
4
z
s
s
runoff.These are all services society would have to pay for oth-
erwise.
th
erwise.Natural open space provides these services for free;in
ERIC SWANSON
its absence,society must pay for them.
Protected buffers along rivers,lakes,streams,and reser-
voirs help preserve clean waters that generate profits from
tourism and fisheries.In the Pacific Northwest,the U.S.Forest
Service is acquiring stream buffers to help protect a fishing 7J' j 1 Ptibj`l I Cj
industry that accounts for 60,000 jobs and$1 billion in annual F- ; j 1 Si f'e
r f)gram
12
e.
income. In one project,TPL helped the Forest Service
acquire 790 acres along Washington's Bogachiel River to pro- In November 1998 the Trust for Public Land
tect runs of chinook,coho,pink,and chum salmon,and steel- worked in support of 29 state and local park
head and cutthroat trout.The purchase helped"show citizens
and open space bond measures,26 of which
that the land was more valuable for fishing and tourism than it passed,generating$2.6 billion in new funding.
TPL's Public Finance Program works with
was for timber,"says N.J.Erickson,who administers the
citizen groups,elected officials,and public
Pacific Northwest Streams Acquisition Program for the Forest
agencies to help craft,pass,and implement
Service. public finance measures for conservation.
Protected buffers also filter pollutants and nutrients from TPL's team of camai nstrategistsincludespg
agricultural and residential runoff—a serious hazard to inland experts in law,public finance,policy research,
and coastal waters and the important economies they support. communications,public opinion polling,direct
Scientists recently discovered a 7,00o-square-mile"dead mail,and legislative analysis.
zone"in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana.Caused by excess TPL offers the following services:
nutrients in the rivers feeding the Gulf,this zone of depleted Feasibility Assessment:research,public
oxygen threatens a fishery worth$26 billion a year.128 opinion surveys,and analysis to ascertain the
States,communities,and the federal government are level of public support for new parks and open
attempting to stem such losses by setting aside environmental- space funding.
ly sensitive stream buffers.The U.S.Department of
Measure 0eveiapment:identification of the
most appropriate sources of funding andAgriculturehelpsfarmerssetasidewetlandsthroughthe
design of a measure that meets legal require-
Conservation Reserve Program,which will help fund restora-ments,that will attract public support,and
tion of 420,000 acres of wetlands,forests,and native grasses
that protects priority conservation lands.
along the Illinois and Minnesota Rivers.A similar program Campaign Management:assistance with
pays farmers to retire flood-prone or eroding cropland along polling,political strategy,direct mail out-
rivers and streams leading into Chesapeake Bay,where agricul- reach,and coalition building.
tural runoff threatens the$90 million blue crab fishery.1 9 For more information,call 617-367-6200
Even the most ambitious attempts to place a dollar value or see http://www.tpl.org/tech.
on natural systems must fail,for ultimately these systems have
value beyond our ability to measure.But that their loss results
in significant economic loss is undeniable,and their preserva-
tion is essential to any effort to"grow smart"and create a liv-
able future for all Americans.
Safeguarding the Environment