How Much Value Does the City of Philadelphia Receive from Its Park and Recreation System?

From the Fairmount Park system to the activities and facilities of the Philadelphia Recreation Department to the broad tourist appeal of Independence National Historical Park, parks provide Philadelphians with so many joys and benefits that many residents would not want to live in the city without them. The city's parks provide hundreds of millions of dollars of economic benefits. In 2007, the city’s parks:

• Increased property tax revenue to the city’s treasury by $18.1 million due to parks enhancing the value of nearby properties.
• Generated $5.2 million in tax receipts from spending by tourists.
• Increased the city’s collective wealth through $40.3 million in net income from tourists and $688.8 million in increased property values.
• Saved the city $5.9 million due to reduced stormwater treatment costs, $1.1 billion in the value of recreation that occurred at parks, $69.4 million in health benefits from exercise done in parks, $1.5 million from the absorption of air pollutants by the city’s trees and shrubs, and $8.6 million in community cohesion benefits.

In summary, the park system provided the city with $23.3 million in increased tax revenue, $729 million in increased resident wealth, $16 million in savings of governmental expenditures and $1.15 billion in resident savings.