March 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 14

Research
The Economic Power
of Local Parks and Rec
By Kevin Roth, Ph.D.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF LOCAL PARKS

hese are challenging times for park and recreation professionals. Eight years
into an economic recovery and park and recreation leaders have to fight
harder than ever before to keep their already limited funding in place. Last
month, these pages featured an article that demonstrated that local park and
recreation agency funding in 2013 was 7 percent below that of 2003, after adjusting for
inflation. Our nation's population grew 9 percent over the same 10-year period.
While elected and appointed government officials agree parks and recreation
is a valuable service, they are likely to
view park and recreation agency funding
as one of the most discretionary budget
lines in their city, town or county. This
becomes particularly acute during challenging fiscal times when local government officials target parks and recreation
for the greatest budget cuts.
But, there is a tremendous cost to these
" savings. " Taking dollars away from parks
and recreation deprives people of gathering places to meet with friends and family,
open spaces to exercise and reconnect with
nature or community resources where they
can get a nutritious meal. In addition, cutting back on park and recreation budgets
harms economic activity in the community.
Several years ago, NRPA published the
first-ever nationwide study on the economic benefits of local public park and
recreation agency spending. That report
found that in 2013 alone, local park and
recreation agencies' operations and capital
spending were responsible for nearly $140
billion in economic activity and nearly 1
million jobs. This report empowered park
and recreation professionals and advocates
to speak with authority about the economic benefits of parks and recreation.
NRPA and George Mason University's
Center for Regional Analysis joined forces

Parks & Recreation

once again to update this landmark study.
The new study, included with this issue
of Parks & Recreation magazine, finds that
local park and recreation agencies were
responsible for more than $154 billion in
economic activity and just over 1.1 million
jobs in 2015. These estimates reflect the direct, indirect and induced effects resulting
from $31 billion in operations spending
and more than $23 billion in capital expenditures made during the year.
The new report also features similar estimates of economic impact and jobs generated for all 50 states and the District of
Columbia. Within many of these states,
that impact is rather impressive. For example, operations and capital spending at California's local park and recreation agencies
resulted in nearly $16 billion of economic activity and was responsible for more
than 118,000 jobs. Following California,
the states enjoying the greatest economic
benefit from local parks and recreation are
Illinois, Texas, Florida and New York.
What makes these estimates even
more powerful is that they are conservative and do not reflect many of the other ways that parks and recreation drives
economic activity and prosperity in a
region. Beyond the impact of local park
and recreation agency spending, other
critical economic impact contributions
from public parks include:

| M A R C H 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

AN EXAMINATION OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF OPERATIONS AND
CAPITAL SPENDING BY LOCAL PARK AND RECREATION AGENCIES
ON THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Visitor spending: Many local park and
recreation agency amenities spur tourism to their respective locales, generating
significant economic activity, including
(but not limited to) increased sales at local restaurants/bars and hotels.
Health and wellness: Parks and recreation promotes improved physical and
mental health. This not only helps people feel better, but can also help lower
medical and insurance costs for the people taking advantage of those facilities
and activities.
Conservation and resiliency: Park and
recreation agencies' protection of land,
water, trees, open spaces and wildlife improves air and water quality in communities. Through effective land management methods and green infrastructure
investments, parks and recreation makes
communities more resilient to natural disasters, reducing costs associated with disaster recovery and insurance premiums.
Property values. Economic research has
demonstrated consistently that homes
and properties located near parklands
have higher values than those farther
away. Higher home values not only benefit the owners of these properties, but
also add to the tax base of local governments.
Another way parks and recreation drives
economic activity is by its ability to recruit

March 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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