Successful parks are markers of healthy communities: children play; families spend time together; people of all ages exercise and relax; and the environment adds to the beauty, security, and economic value of the neighborhood. On the other hand, neglected, dangerous, poorly maintained, or badly designed parks and recreation facilities have the opposite effect: families and young children stay away, illicit activities proliferate, and the property becomes threatening or an eyesore.

Residents of low-income communities need to not only volunteer to improve their neighborhoods, but also to campaign for improved parks and equitable allocation of resources. Their efforts have resulted in a wide range of achievements. For parks and recreation facilities to become (or remain) community assets, PolicyLink advocates for a number of proven practices, including:

• Community participation as a necessary element in policy and programming; Measures that reduce disparities by investing equitably in parks and open spaces; Shifting more funding to projects that benefit dense, urban areas, and low-income communities;
  
• Considering options for rehabilitating and reusing existing community assets and facilities, such as school yards, vacant lots, or other land owned by public agencies, as alternatives to new land acquisitions.

San Joaquin River Parkway

PolicyLink is currently partnering with the San Joaquin River Parkway Trust’s diverse community constituencies—particularly the area’s Latino and Asian immigrant communities—to develop a plan for the expansion and sustainability of the San Joaquin River Parkway. PolicyLink supports the Trust’s efforts to undertake recommended actions identified in the plan, with particular emphasis on equitable development principles and policy, infrastructure equity (with a particular focus on access to green space), and building community partnerships.

California Alliance Advocates for Equitable Distribution of Park Funds

There exists, at this moment, an important opportunity to define and implement standards for equity to measure progress and hold officials accountable; and to transform California into a more livable, democratic, and just place to live and raise children.

PolicyLink is party to a lawsuit in Los Angeles to release key information about spending on parks, so that disparities can be properly measured and remedied.  PolicyLink is providing comments regarding the guidelines and regulations that are being developed to implement Proposition 84 and AB31. The comments are recommendations on how to prioritize resources to develop parks in neighborhoods that are park-deficient, and to give priority to projects that offer joint-use possibilities and abide by the principles of equitable development: invest in people, invest in stronger communities, invest in the open, and invest in justice.

Additional Parks and Urban Greening Projects

Other PolicyLink efforts focusing on parks and urban greening include:

• Managing The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence project, which supports the creation of facilities for joint use between schools and other community needs;
  
• Advising the City of Richmond, California on community health policies for its general plan; and
  
• Advancing our national policy agenda to improve access to healthy foods through healthy food retailing.
  
• Coming soon! A new tool in the Equitable Development Toolkit describes the array of efforts across the country to increase resources and improve facilities and programs.
  

Resources

Safety, Growth, and Equity: Parks and Open Space (pdf)

Growing Greener Cities, edited by Eugenie Birch and Susan M. Wachter; chapter by Victor Rubin, PolicyLink V.P. of Research. Click here to buy book.