Urban Parks
The Problem
Urban parks provide a range
of benefits to communities, ranging from air and water purification to building
a sense of community. Recreation opportunities in parks can help to reduce
crime by offering young people activities to fill their time and building
skills and self esteem. Green spaces can help attract new businesses and jobs,
increase property values, and generally contribute to a better quality of life
for the surrounding community. Unfortunately, in many metropolitan areas, parks
and recreation opportunities are concentrated in affluent and suburban
neighborhoods, while low-income, inner-city communities have inadequate and
severely overcrowded public parks that offer far fewer recreational programs.
Who Is
Affected?
The neighborhoods most in
need of recreation opportunities and open space generally have the least
parkland, the fewest facilities, and the greatest difficulties maintaining them
as safe havens. Although elected officials generally declare their support for
parks and recreation programs, more and better services are available to
residents of suburban areas than to those who live in less affluent rural and
urban areas. The single largest source of funding for parks, the federal Land
and Water Conservation Fund, has faced substantial cuts in recent years, and
funding for urban parks has taken a back seat to other programs as many cities
struggle with reduced tax revenues and tight budgets.
What You
Can Do
Work to improve conditions
at your local park by joining or starting a friends of the park organization.
You can find a guide to starting a park friends group on the Brookline Greenspace Alliance web site.
Look for resources through
your local government or community redevelopment programs to turn an empty lot
in your neighborhood into a park or community garden. Find out more about how
to start a community garden from the American Community Gardening
Association.
Find out where your elected
officials stand on urban parks issues by attending town meetings or writing
letters. You can also look for information from national and state groups that
track the environmental voting records of elected officials such as the League of Conservation Voters or your state
conservation voter league.
Register to vote and vote for the candidates who will work to
support your community’s parks.
This is an exert from the Earth Day Network site's educational fact sheets.  Angel cuddles, Sarah
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