July 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 54

NRPA Update
Data-Based Park and
Recreation Stories

hen it comes to telling stories, more often than not the focus is on
the words used to relate the tale. In today's world, however, data is
king and, when combined with words, serves to enhance the telling of
those stories. How we tell our story is as important as its content, and
this sentiment was borne out in the recent NRPA Innovation Lab on " Data-Driven
Government and Parks and Recreation, " held in Boston, Massachusetts.
Gathering Data
During the Innovation Lab, Chris Cook,
Boston Parks and Recreation commissioner, and Nigel Jacob and Kris Carter
from the Boston Office of New Urban
Mechanics, shared how Boston Parks
and Recreation collected data about its
parks system, which was then used to inform the department's programming decisions and support its master planning.
By 2013, a century had passed since a
survey of Boston's parks assets had been
undertaken. A daunting task to be sure, but
in order to determine (1) what it owned,
(2) where those assets were located, and
(3) what shape they were in, a new survey
of the city's 330-plus parks was needed. A
small team was assembled to undertake this
inventory and, during the course of a few
summers, a huge amount of data was collected. Boston Parks and Recreation turned
to Sasaki Associates, an international, interdisciplinary planning and design firm, to
help make sense of the new information.
Sasaki developed a tool to break down
data in various ways - such as distance of
amenity from the household/people being
served - and helped the department to ensure it was making investments equitably
across its constituency. The tool also assists
with visualization of new spaces, as Boston looks to add more than 53,000 housing
units in the coming years.
Park and recreation agencies cited deficits
of analytical skills and time, along with lim-

52 Parks & Recreation

ited resources, as significant challenges when
it comes to analyzing data. Interestingly, the
data-analysis tool used most often by park
and recreation departments is already on
most computers: Microsoft Excel. Another important consideration, particularly for
park and recreation professionals, is that data
needs to be kept fresh. It's not enough to collect data one time: It has to be done on an
ongoing basis and kept up to date.
Telling Stories
The data has been gathered and analyzed; now, it's time to share your findings. Cook cautioned against the tendency to only share the good points: " Don't
be afraid to share some of the things
you're not doing so great on, " he says.
Embracing challenges along with accomplishments lets city leadership, employees and residents know an agency
is aware of and planning to rectify those
issues. The information you've collected can also be useful to other organizations that have a vested interest in the
well-being of the community, so, when
appropriate, be willing to share data with
others. They may be able to offer insights
that you may not have considered.
One way to quickly share key metrics
with stakeholders is through the use of a
dashboard. Dashboards provide a quick
overview of key performance indicators
(KPIs) and help viewers visualize complex
data. Boston Parks and Recreation's met-

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rics flow into a dashboard called CityScore
(www.cityofboston.gov/cityscore), a new
initiative designed to inform Boston's mayor
and city managers about the overall health
of the city at a moment's notice. Most park
and recreation agencies have dashboards
that are inward-facing, used to gauge progress on their strategic goals; currently, about
one-third of agencies use dashboards to
communicate their accomplishments and
challenges with the general public.
If you were unable to attend the Boston
Innovation Lab but would like to learn
more, visit www.nrpa.org/professional-development/e-learning/webinars-archived
and select the " Big Data and Technology in
Park and Recreation " webinar.
Innovation Lab: Portland
The next stop for NRPA's Innovation Lab
is Portland, Oregon, where discussions
will focus on social equity. August 3-5, join
NRPA and thought leaders from both inside and outside the field for an interactive
event designed to help us better understand
how park design, policy implementation
and program development can influence
the way communities are served, the diversity of the workforce and see how Portland has worked to engage community
members to create better, more equitable
outcomes. Learn more at www.nrpa.org/
innovation-labs.
- Sonia Myrick, Managing Editor of
Parks & Recreation magazine

July 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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