Over the past several decades of steady decline, changing public attitudes are encouraging many cities to support more investments in public infrastructure, including parks. Instead of being challenged to upgrade and maintain parks in the face of continuing neighborhood and population decline, park and recreation directors are now encouraged to utilize parks as a way to support positive changes in neighborhoods and become catalysts for economic development.  In many cities increased development and revitalization of urban parks can have a positive effect on the health and quality of life of residents. In order to successfully maintain and increase the availability of quality urban parks and thereby improve the health of residents, park and recreation agencies have an important role to play in the planning, coordination and implementation of new and revitalized urban parks and recreation facilities. The experience that park and recreation agencies can provide in helping to guide the development and planning process is invaluable. The challenge lies in the ability of park and recreation agencies to lead the effort in obtaining financial support and human resources as well as managing the revitalization process.

Research shows that a walk in the park is more than just a nice way to spend an afternoon. It’s an essential component for good health, according to University of Illinois environment and behavior researcher Frances “Ming” Kuo. City parks and open spaces improve our physical and psychological health, strengthen our communities, and make our cities and neighborhoods more attractive places to live, work and play. Currently eighty percent of Americans live in metropolitan areas, making urban parks an ever increasingly important feature of urban living.

Establishing and maintaining urban parks helps revitalize communities in a variety of ways including increasing economic development opportunities; increasing daily physical activity; reconnecting individuals of all ages and abilities with nature; and reducing crime by providing safe, healthy alternatives for at-risk individuals. But most importantly, urban parks play an important role in improving public health.

It is well established that physical activity helps prevent obesity and related medical problems. And there is mounting evidence that providing places to exercise, parks primarily, improves health. Research is also uncovering physical and mental health benefits simply by interacting with nature: reduced levels of attention deficit in children, improved cognitive ability, reduced aggressive behaviors and a general recharging of the brain. Increasingly, a growing clamor from doctors, parents, overweight individuals, and even those who just want to strengthen muscles, lungs, and hearts suggests that people today want more from their parks.

During this period of fiscal restraint, park and recreation departments must rely on their ability to leverage a number of funding resources perhaps not previously considered in addition to traditional efforts. Options for alternative funding may include one or more of the following:

Free v. fee:  One possible solution to the urban parks funding crisis is for park and recreation departments to charge fees to their patrons for access to certain park and recreation activities such as special activities, camps, etc.

Partnerships with other government agencies: Many park and recreation departments have found opportunities by partnering with government agencies such as health departments and others with similar missions to address new park and recreation revitalization efforts.

Donations from private individuals and corporations: One of the most common methods of raising funds for park and recreation facilities is to accept donations from private individuals and corporations. In particular, offering “naming rights” on new facilities can lead to major contributions, as can communitywide fundraising campaigns for specific new facilities – soccer fields, swimming pools, and so on.

Donations from foundations:  Private foundations receive their funds from an individual or family. Many of these family foundations are very small and serve as the vehicle for the personal giving of the donor and fund local social welfare groups, alma maters and other ‘favored projects’ of the donor. Community foundations are similar in purpose to private foundations; however, they receive their funds from a number of different sources, rather than just one source, and are geographically restricted. Company-based foundations receive their funds from profitmaking corporations. These foundations are separate legal entities from donor companies.

Fundraising from nonprofit organizations: Partnerships with nonprofit organizations can be beneficial since in many cases nonprofits are already in the business of running park and recreation programs and nonprofit organizations can tap funding sources unavailable to public agencies. Nonprofit organizations may create endowments to fund ongoing needs through a competitive process. In this manner, grant funds from different sources may be used to work together.

Focusing on new construction v. maintenance: In a time of limited resources, many city park departments have to choose between construction of new facilities and ongoing maintenance of old facilities. The availability of private donations may sometimes skew priorities toward construction of new facilities even when there is not enough money to maintain what already exists.

Use of volunteers: As financial resources have become more constrained, park and recreation agencies – like many other government agencies – have increased the use of volunteers to complete tasks formerly performed by employees. In many departments, volunteers are performing critical tasks including operating camps, staffing feeding programs, coordinating maintenance efforts, performing marketing tasks and more. Volunteers are a viable and cost-effective answer to downsizing and limited availability of paid staff.

Through effective programming and development for people of all ages and abilities and a little creativity parks and recreation departments can go beyond a service and maintenance and become an active community partner in the economic development and revitalization of the communities they serve.