Municipal Parks and Recreation

Outlines the benefits of enhancing the natural resources in local parks and other landscapes, to maintain these areas in a sustainable manner, and to provide a step-by-step guide to help staff and volunteers achieve those results. It is directed primarily towards those charged with the design and maintenance of parklands, retail centers, housing developments, industrial parks, schools and other land uses, although the principles outlined in the book could also be used by individual homeowners.

A collection of case studies based on sustainable park management strategies.

This is a case study of Duff Park, which came into being via a partnership between the state, Murrysville, multiple community organizations, and various individuals. The park now includes a nature preserve containing an important old-growth deciduous forest and five miles of trails.

In its efforts to grow participation and the success of the outdoor industry, OIF commissioned harris Interactive to conduct a consumer research study that will provide information to develop an action plan to increase participation in human powered outdoor activities.

This comprehensive resource guide is designed to help staff and volunteers responsible for managing municipal recreation and parks services wade through the maze of financing possibilities.

Converting areas covered by turf grass to meadows can be financially rewarding and relatively simple on both public and private land. It can also deliver substantial environmental and aesthetic benefits. WeConservePA guide. 5 pages.

This article published in PA Township News discusses the "green movement" initiative encouraging townships to put aside traditional park designs in favor of more natural settings. By using greener options, townships can protect landscapes, save time and money by minimizing upkeep, and still allow municipalities to provide places for sports, play, and other recreational activities.

This guide is intended to encourage partnerships between park agencies and stormwater agencies aimed at promoting the use of green infrastructure on park lands. The guide offers information on why partnerships between stormwater managers and parks managers can be beneficial and how you can create such partnerships. The guide presents an overview of green infrastructure and describes practices that can be used to manage stormwater in parks. In addition, you will find information on factors that influence the selection of appropriate green infrastructure practices, such as maintenance requirements.

This document provides approaches local government officials and municipal program managers (Figure 1) in small to midsize communities can use to incorporate green infrastructure components into work they are doing in public spaces. The guide demonstrates ways in which projects can be modified relatively easily and at a low cost recognizing that municipal resources can be limited.

These are best practices for developing parks that are environmentally sustainable and successful in connecting people to nature, including nature-based stormwater solutions (green infrastructure).

This resource guide is designed to help staff and volunteers responsible for managing municipal recreation and parks services wade through the variety of financing possibilities.

Working from the premise that all residents deserve similar levels of access to good parks—not simply as a matter of right but because of parks’ significant benefits for people’s health, the environment, and other outcomes—this report seeks to understand the multipleways that communities are funding their park systems, paying special attention to parks serving low-income neighborhoods. In our review, we place emphasis on (1)understanding how equity is approached in raising and distributing funds and (2) elevating innovative, emerging models or approaches to funding parks, particularly those that capitalize on parks’ many benefits.

Intergovernmental agreement established by the Centre Region COG for the purpose of planning, developing and operating regional and multi-municipal parks.

This document is a description of how four regional recreation providers have been able to enhance and develop recreation and park facilities.

This case study of the Lardner’s Point Park project in Bucks County discusses the initial component of a new public greenway along the North Delaware riverfront and the collaborative efforts of local and state resources involved in the funding and planning of the project.

This publication is a guide to municipal land use planning. It covers topics that include tree commissions, public landscaping, stormwater management and reclamation of vacant lots.

This article will illuminate mental models that may interfere with strategic plan implementation by looking closely at one example: the park systems.

This publication provides a foundation on the basic concepts of public recreation and parks services in Pennsylvania. It also covers the demographic, environmental, social and other issues that face our municipalities and impact the provision of recreation and parks services.

This handbook is organized so that your municipality can more easily understand the elements that go into offering community recreation programs. It focuses on how to plan and implement municipal recreation programs, not how to conduct and supervise individual activities.

The first in a series of Outdoor Nation Special Reports, The Outdoor Foundation's Barriers to the Outdoors, provides insights from a growing community of 'Outsiders,' which represents youth ages 13-30, that have come together to influence America's outdoor programs, policies and products.

Parks and other public open spaces deliver tremendous benefits to the public and provide a crucial foundation for building, maintaining, and renewing communities. People rely on the permanence of these civic assets in making decisions on where to live and work. Thus, it is no wonder that Pennsylvania law affords great protections to parks from sale or conversion to non-public uses by the local governments responsible for their care. This guide provides a concise overview of these protections. For a more comprehensive review and analysis, see the companion publication: Ensuring the Permanence of Parks and Other Public Open Space. WeConservePA guide. 4 pages.

This calculator has been created for public and private land owners who regularly care for lawns. This tool calculates fuel, dollar, greenhouse gas (GHG), and other savings associated with changing current mowing practices.

Policy for Accepting Recreation and Park Facilities into the Regional System

Written for advisory board members, this guide helps move advisory board members towards that perfectly functioning board.

Parks have long played an integral role in community landscapes. As open green space becomes more scarce, public park agencies have new opportunity and reasons to work with other departments and agencies to utilize protected public green space in innovative ways. Designing new or existing parks to manage stormwater using green infrastructure principles is an ideal way to realize many of these benefits. Green stormwater infrastructure installations can be used to revitalize existing parks or enhance the design and functionality of new parks.

Fact sheet highlighting the hazards and storage practices of pool chemicals.

This publication is a compilation of articles and research materials addressing the value of parks and recreation departments.

This paper focuses on the role mixed-income infill housing and a network of parks can play in increasing city density, increasing access to parks for residents of all income levels, and strengthening cities. Key findings include: States can promote or reward the construction of affordable housing through the offer of funding for parks; cities can integrate the planning and creation of affordable housing and parks; private developers can build compact developments that allow for walking, affordable housing, and parkland; and community development corporations can expand their work beyond housing to include parks.

This report helps to create a framework for understanding how cities create and support successful parks. The Excellent City Park System builds on measures of park system success first introduced in Peter Harnik’s Inside City Parks in 2000. This volume enlarges the number of cities gauged against those measures to 55 as it introduces new concepts of what makes a park system great.

List of best practices to ensure that parks and recreation sites and environmentally sustainable.

List of effective nature-based stormwater management practices including riparian buffers, pervious pavement, trees, and bioswales.

This report is the result of a collaboration between Montgomery County’s open-space board and parks, trails, and historic sites advisory board. The two boards have reviewed the network of publicly available park, trail, natural, and historic assets in Montgomery County and identified opportunities to expand, enhance, protect, and connect those assets. The recommendations presented in this report are consistent with the goals and actions put forth in Montgomery County’s Montco 2040 comprehensive plan and are intended to provide the county commissioners with useful strategies as they consider and prioritize future open space opportunities, expenditures, and programs

This article, published in Sylvan Communities magazine, provides a snapshot of the information found in the “Sustainable Community Parks” publication, with a specific focus on the use and benefits of native trees.