Over the past decade, communities across the country have experienced a roller coaster of financial circumstances, and public services of all types have been hit with budget cuts, hiring freezes and a range of other challenges as a result of the recent economic recession. If funding for parks and recreation was inadequate prior to 2008, park and recreation agencies in many communities have found it to be downright painful since then.
With the crash of the housing market and skyrocketing unemployment, all manner of funding streams for public services — from schools to emergency services to parks and recreation — were chopped. Local governments shifted the dollars that remained to basic services like police and fire, while parks and recreation took an even bigger hit.
However, as the economy rebounds, communities across the country are beginning to recognize the role their parks play in economic development. A new or revitalized park can boost the local economy by attracting new businesses, drawing families to purchase or rent a home nearby, and driving tourism to the area.
Local Parks Support Local Economies
A 2010 Trust for Public Land (TPL) analysis of the economic benefits of parks in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, found that homes adjacent to parks saw an increased sales price of more than $8,000. A similar 2014 study of the Chicago Park District, coordinated by the Civic Consulting Alliance, Global Economics Group and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, found that homes near parks experience a 1.5 percent increase in value, a total of $900 million in increased home values in the city due to parks. In Mecklenburg County, the economic impact of tourism attributed to parks totals $53 million, and for Chicago it tops $1.4 billion.
Parks also support financially strained communities in many less-obvious ways. They offer inexpensive opportunities for residents to improve their wellness, potentially reducing healthcare costs. TPL found that for Mecklenburg County, annual healthcare cost savings due to parks is more than $80 million. Green space in parks can reduce pressure on stormwater infrastructure by providing opportunities for water to filter into the ground, reducing expenses related to upgrading sewer systems over the long term. Such green infrastructure saves Mecklenburg County almost $19 million each year. And parks can help build community and a sense of place, keeping people — particularly young, well-educated people — from leaving to seek job opportunities elsewhere during times of economic stress and uncertainty.
Kissimmee’s New Lakefront Park
Many communities have taken this to heart and, despite economic struggles, have pushed forward with major park construction projects during the past several years. One example is the city of Kissimmee, Florida, a city of about 63,000 just outside of Orlando.
Residents of Kissimmee — and Osceola County as a whole — were among those worst hit by the recent mortgage crisis. Although the rate of foreclosures is now declining and property values are finally increasing once again, Kissimmee remains among the cities with the highest rates of foreclosure in the country. With an unemployment rate of 7 percent, Osceola County lags behind much of the country in terms of economic recovery. Still, Forbes magazine lists Osceola among the fastest-growing counties in the nation.
Once a community fueled by the citrus and ranching industries, Kissimmee saw dramatic changes in the early 1970s when Walt Disney World opened in nearby Lake Buena Vista, Florida, about 15 miles away. In addition to the popular theme parks, Kissimmee’s chain of freshwater lakes is renowned among anglers, drawing crowds to its largemouth bass tournaments.
One of those lakes, Lake Tohopekaliga or “Lake Toho” as the locals call it, has recently been the focus of the city’s largest capital improvement project in its history, according to Dan Loubier, director of parks, recreation and public facilities for the city of Kissimmee. Despite the poor economy, Loubier forged ahead with plans for a $30 million revitalization of Lakefront Park.
When the mortgage crisis hit and the taxable value of properties decreased, Kissimmee’s Parks Division was forced to scale back to core services, like many of its counterparts nationwide. The department lost 40 percent of its budget and staff between 2008 and 2010. Loubier credits his department and the city for keeping a strong reserve and spending conservatively before the downturn. “We were OK,” he says.
Plans for Lakefront Park were already in the works prior to this time, and the economic downturn did not alter these plans. Remarkably, Loubier did not have a difficult time convincing Kissimmee residents and commissioners of the economic value of the Lakefront Park revitalization project. “When you look back,” Loubier says, “any time the country had difficulty, the government put people to work.” Aside from the project being funded solely by sales tax revenues, paid for mostly by tourists, “I was able to tell folks that a $30 million park equals a lot of people working,” he says.
Lakefront Park, which was constructed in three phases to bolster its affordability, offers playgrounds, picnic pavilions, a marina, an event lawn, performance stages and a splashpad, among many other amenities. Designed with much community input — including three public hearings at which citizens expressed their needs and desires for the park — Lakefront Park is what Loubier calls “a true park for the people.” Despite its funding coming from visitors, the park is primarily used by citizens, as evidenced from the daily walkers seen on the boardwalks, families visiting weekly for picnics and playground outings, and fishermen and boaters making regular use of the marina and bait shop.
Designed for passive education as well as recreation, Lakefront Park honors the heritage and natural history of the community. Buildings make use of design elements from the first structures in Kissimmee; visitors will find plenty of standing seam metal roofs, white columns and brick. Much of the building material was sourced locally to further support the local economy. The landscaping features native plants and the picnic shelters are named for native birds. You can have your retirement party at Cormorant Pavilion or celebrate a birthday at Egret Pavilion, for example.
In an effort to protect Lake Toho as a valuable natural and economic resource, a major component of the Lakefront Park revitalization project was green infrastructure to provide stormwater retention and treatment. Thanks to a series of baffle boxes and rain gardens included in the design of the park, Lakefront Park now filters and treats all of the runoff from downtown Kissimmee before it reaches the lake. Educational signage and a baffle box equipped with a viewing window further promote the conservation message to park visitors.
With the final phase of Lakefront Park having just opened in October 2014, the long-term impacts of such a project on the local economy of Kissimmee remain to be seen, although it is fair to say that so far, hundreds have found work and thousands have benefited from the new recreation opportunities in their community. Rumors of interest from developers for new hotels and mixed-use projects in the area adjacent to the park are spreading quickly, a new commuter rail station is in the works, and the local electric and telecom utility that owns property adjacent to the park has taken on a revitalization project of its own space.
Needless to say, Kissimmee is proud of its new park, and the park is benefiting the community in countless ways.
A Boom During the Bust
On the opposite end of the spectrum lies booming Williston, North Dakota. Situated atop rich deposits of coal and petroleum, Williston has experienced a dramatic shift in recent years from a sleepy farming community to a bustling hub of activity. Jobs in the oil-fracking industry are abundant, luring workers from as far as Michigan and Massachusetts as the economic recession has made work hard to find near their homes. Williston boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, with starting pay at the local Walmart well above $15 per hour and jobs in the oil fields paying three times as much.
As of the 2010 census, there were about 14,000 residents in Williston. Current population estimates reach as high as 30,000 or 40,000 people, although it is difficult to know exactly how many have flocked to the area as many reside in temporary housing. Given the dangerous and labor-intensive nature of work in the oil fields, the vast majority of Williston’s new residents are men, living in group housing units that have come to be known as “man camps.” With the overwhelming influx of people, Williston’s housing, restaurants, retail and services have struggled to keep up with the boom.
In the past year or so, as more homes have been constructed, restaurants opened and roads improved, the oil workers have begun to bring their wives, girlfriends and children to Williston to set up households. The birth rate in Williston has doubled in the past decade, and the local hospital estimates it will see 1,000 babies born in 2015.
The rapidly growing number of families in Williston means more schools, healthcare facilities and other services are necessary. And that includes parks and recreation.
Home of the Country’s Largest Recreation Center
After working for a time in park and recreation positions in Minnesota and Colorado, Darin Krueger returned to his native North Dakota in 2006 to take a job as a small-town parks director in Williston. At that time, he had a staff of just 12 full-time employees and a $1.8 million annual budget. “Williston was a poor park district,” Krueger recalls. There were crumbling, unsafe playgrounds and an ever-growing list of projects needed to modernize existing structures. Certainly there was no room in the budget for a major construction project. Still, Krueger says, “Everyone was asking me, ‘When are you going to build a rec center?’”
Williston Parks and Recreation District would not be a “poor park district” — nor would Krueger be a small-town parks director — for long. When the oil (and dollars) started flowing in Williston, the District began to reap the benefits of a new one-cent sales tax, with half of the revenue going to Park District operations and the other half used to fund a new recreation center. Plans for what would become arguably the nation’s largest public recreation center commenced.
The Williston Area Recreation Center, which opened in March 2014, is an expansive, state-of-the-art 250,000-square-foot complex that cost more than $70 million to construct. With indoor basketball and tennis courts, playgrounds, a waterpark, a running track, a golf simulator, plenty of fitness equipment and space to roam, the recreation center is what Krueger calls “a game changer for Williston.”
In this booming town, residents are looking for stability and a chance to revitalize and strengthen their community in the wake of great change. The former quiet farming town had little to offer new throngs of children and families in the way of recreation and entertainment, particularly in North Dakota’s very cold, very dark winters. The new recreation center offers a bit of that stability and a lot of fun; it is a place for families to hang out, a place for people to relax and enjoy themselves, get some exercise and meet their new neighbors.
In the first six months of the Williston Area Recreation Center’s existence, more than 13,000 individual and family memberships were sold. Daily visitation tops 16,000 people, and the center takes in about $340,000 per day. The local school and hospital even bring prospective new teachers, nurses and doctors by for a tour of the rec center, using it as a recruitment tool.
Still, the work for Krueger and the Williston Parks and Recreation District has only just begun. Krueger doesn’t believe the oil boom will slow for at least another decade. And all of those babies born in Williston? “In 10 years, all of those kids will be in our programs,” he says.
In addition to constructing the Williston Area Recreation Center, Krueger has been working to improve playgrounds and add new restrooms and roads to existing parks during the past few years. He says that the District will acquire and develop 30 new parks during the next five years. One of his major goals is to continue to improve and expand Williston’s network of trails; he hopes to add 15 to 20 miles of mixed-use trails over the next decade. And, Krueger says, Williston will need another recreation center on the west side of town in the next several years. “My job is to improve the quality of life in Williston,” Krueger adds.
Parks Support Communities
If the projects in Kissimmee and Williston have a lesson for the rest of the country, perhaps it is that investing in parks and recreation makes good sense under a range of economic circumstances. Parks and recreation facilities offer critical support to communities, improving the quality of life for residents while helping to support the local economy by providing jobs, drawing new business and increasing property values.
In the November 2014 elections, voters across the country — from Arlington, Virginia, to Spokane, Washington — voted in support of park construction and improvement projects. The public’s appetite for such projects is growing, but park and recreation departments nationwide must continue to build their case for major public investments in parks.
Jessica Culverhouse is NRPA’s Senior Manager of Fundraising.