June 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 31

and higher mortality rates. Remember
the often-negative APWA? The association recognizes that in hot, arid
climates, increasing street shade by 20
percent increases the pavement condition index and extends the resurfacing cycle from every six to 13 years,
reducing street maintenance costs by
50 percent.
TPL also lists environmental benefits related to stormwater runoff,
which presents significant issues in
communities where impervious surfaces, such as roads, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops, prevent water
from soaking into the ground. The
American Forests Resource Center
considers trees, and likely undeveloped park spaces, a " less expensive
stormwater management system. "
And stormwater that is slowed naturally before entering a stream is likely
to contain fewer pollutants.
Economic Benefits
Perhaps you are seeking park and
recreation benefits beyond those related to the environment and health?
Surely, money is something to grab
the attention. Studies show that wellplanned park and recreation systems
can serve as a catalyst for economic
development. How? Access to parks
can increase property values, stimulate the creation of jobs at the seasonal, part-time and full-time levels and
provide a foundation for place-based
economic development. According
to NRPA and the APA, parks actually attract consumers to downtown
regions, spur the opening of concessionaires and local restaurants, and
increase tourism. Official measurements of the economic impact that
parks have can be difficult to calculate. However, TPL has developed
a guide for measuring the economic value of a city park system that

measures property value, direct use,
health, community cohesion, clean
water, clean air and tourism. NRPA's
recent report, The Economic Impact
of Local Parks, also aims to quantify
the significant benefits offered by a
robust park and recreation system
(www.nrpa.org/parkeconreport).
And, what do we know about the
next generation? They choose the
community in which they want to
live before they start looking for a job.
Millennials are interested in communities that are rich with amenities -
and what amenities are often at the
heart of quality-of-life? You guessed
it - parks, recreation and trails.
Communities desiring to maintain
relevance to the next generation of
workers need to have high-quality
park systems to bring these college
grads home, or to encourage more to
call them home. Author, researcher
and park champion John Crompton
finds the same to be true for what
he calls GRAMPIES, the Growing
number of Retired, Active, Monied
People in Excellent Shape. And this
group, different from the Millennials,
consists of positive taxpayers, generating more in taxes for the municipality than they cost to the city.
Psychological Benefits
So, while the above benefits affect
us all, psychological health is really
about the individual and not a community health issue, right? Wrong. A
study conducted in 2014 and reported in the Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics found that mental
health is significantly related to residential distance from parks. This research has resulted in a shift in attention to the built environment as a key
determinant of health for both physical and mental population health.
Psychology Today asks the question,

" Do Parks Make People Happier? "
A longitudinal study conducted in
Great Britain over a period of 18
years found that living near parks
does affect people's mental health,
even when controlling for marriage
and employment variables.
Social Benefits
According to NRPA's ongoing analyses of social equity and parks, public
parks help provide equal access to nature and green spaces for all citizens
regardless of gender, socioeconomic
status, ability, ethnicity or age. Park
and recreation agencies can foster
community " buy-in " or pride, bring
people together and connect them to
each other and to nature. Community pride is often linked to the creation
of more stable neighborhoods.
Additionally, TPL links parks and
recreation to reductions in crime,
including reducing juvenile delinquency. Studies show that students
involved in recreational activities are
less likely to miss school, more likely to graduate and go on to college,
and score roughly 10 percent higher than youth not engaged in recreational programs.
According to NRPA, successful
parks have four key qualities. They
are (1) accessible, (2) allow people to
engage in activities, (3) comfortable,
and (4) sociable places. It is critically important that we start looking
at these qualities as mechanisms to
house our HEEPS of benefits and
start spreading the word about how
parks offer much more value than
just a place to sit.
Tyler Tapps, Ph.D., CPRP, is an Assistant
Professor and Graduate Coordinator at
Northwest Missouri State University
(tytapps@nwmissouri.edu). Janet Bartnik,
M.S., CPRP, is the Director at Liberty Parks
and Recreation in Missouri (jbartnik@
ci.liberty.mo.us).

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June 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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