In last month’s issue of the California Parks & Recreation magazine we began a series of articles examining the mission areas of the “Creating Community in the 21st Century” Action Plan. Understanding the mission areas and how they apply to the vision “We Create Community Through People, Parks and Programs” is essential for park and recreation professionals to position themselves in their community. The goal is to have your community think of parks and recreation when it comes to creating community; to understand that parks and recreation offers more than just recreation experiences. But more important than recognition around the community is the positioning of parks and recreation in relation to other departments during budgeting times. Policy makers must see how parks and recreation play an important role in the nine mission areas specified in the action plan. Aligning community goals in relation to how parks and recreation meets those goals will make it easier for parks and recreation to compete with other departments for funding. It is also important to remember that implementing the strategies from the action plan does not mean changing your programming, facilities or services. It simply means shifting the way you think about and promote your programming, facilities and services. The nine mission areas are:
We started examining mission the areas last month with “Foster Human Development” and “Increase Cultural Unity.” This month we explore the areas of “Promote Health and Wellness” and “Support Economic Development.” We will again look at the importance of the mission areas to creating community, the role of park and recreation professionals in accomplishing the mission and examples of agencies’ programs, facilities and services that fulfill the mission. Promote Health and Wellness The values of good health and wellness have been extolled to the American public for years. The paths to good health include exercising, good nutrition and reducing stress levels. Despite all the encouragement for Americans to become more active and eat well, the statistics show that people are not acting on that information. It may be hard to believe that an estimated 250,000 people die in our country every year because of inactivity, but the evidence is continually more convincing. Inactivity is second only to smoking, which causes 400,000 preventable deaths in the United States annually—more than auto accidents, breast cancer, colon cancer and alcohol combined.(1) The number of deaths attributed to inactivity in 1999 was as high as 280,000.(2) The statistics on overweight Americans is even more telling. The definition of overweight is a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or greater. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by his/her height in meters squared. More than half of U.S. adults are overweight and nearly one-quarter of U.S. adults are obese (BMI > 30).(3) Promoting activity through recreation experiences is what park and recreation professionals do best. They understand that most programming is recognized as fun. But when “selling” the programming to policy makers, programmers must recognize the other benefits as well. A youth karate class provides recreation experiences (mission area #9), fosters human development (mission area #1), strengthens safety and security (mission area #5) and with a little program tweaking may include increasing cultural unity (mission area #2). Promoting health and wellness through park and recreation programming goes beyond just the physical fitness of people, it should include medical and mental health programming. Promoting the mental health values of some classes may help increase attendance. A Tai Chi, gardening or art class offers stress reduction benefits to participants. Medical health programming could include such services as:
The City of La Palma Recreation & Community Services Department recently released their 2000-2001 work plan. As part of their three-year strategic plan, the goal of the department is to make a difference in their community’s well-being, through partnerships, programs services and places. They identified three community target issues:
The plan states “Health and Wellness focuses on improving the physical and mental health, fitness, and well-being of individuals, families, and especially our aging population; and creating educational and recreational experiences for all ages around nature and the environment.”(4) The City of La Palma identified ten performance measures in relation to the strategic goal of “Supporting a community that is healthy and promoting well being for all.” Some of them are:
To reach these goals the Recreation & Community Services department identified specific task to accomplish, assigned them to appropriate staff and gave them target dates of completion during the upcoming year. Of the many tasks identified here is a small sampling: Identify community and regional resources relative to health and wellness/environmental education The City of La Palma is currently researching a variety of resources for possible future partnerships. Partnerships can be local or outside the City of La Palma. On the list so far are the Orange County Parks & Recreation, Orange County Health Services, La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and Kaiser Permanente. Introduce new and innovative health and fitness alternatives. This includes some new programming but mostly the reworking of existing programs. The City of La Palma hosts a 5K and 10K Run/Walk on the Fourth of July. The event has been changed to focus on health and wellness. The name was changed to “La Palma Fitness Run for Fun” and now incorporates a one-mile non-competitive fitness stroll aimed at families called “Family Fun One.” In conjunction with the run, the city has a health and wellness fair, emphasizing physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. Integrate health education into all division’s programs and activities The city incorporated physical fitness into its after school program through its award winning Fit N Fun program. Future plans include incorporating health education components into youth sports programs and day camps. Establish ongoing programs that increase awareness and appreciation of healthy lifestyles for mature adults, seniors and frail seniors. The City of La Palma promotes and hosts health education speakers and programs into their Senior Club meetings. In partnership with La Palma Intercommunity Hospital, the city provided an “Armchair Exercise” class, meeting once per week. The city also instituted a senior transportation program, entitled “CAT – Commute Around Town” whereby seniors who are not able to drive themselves can be transported to doctors’ and dentists’ appointments. Engineer measurement plans to review & evaluate health and fitness programs in this service area In terms of health and wellness, the city will measure improved blood pressure and heart rates for senior citizens (taken monthly at Senior Club meetings) and a drop in the number of residents with hearth attack or stroke-related problems (tracked through association with La Palma Intercommunity Hospital and Orange County’s annual health reports). The city also performs fitness tests on participants in the Fit N Fun program. The City of La Palma recognized the importance of health and wellness in a community. They understand that the park and recreation department can be the catalyst for reaching people in the community and getting them fit physically, emotionally and mentally. Americans spend $33 billion annually on weight-loss products and services. This figure represents consumer dollars spent in the early 1990s on all efforts at weight loss or weight maintenance including low-calorie foods, artificially sweetened products such as diet sodas, and memberships to commercial weight-loss centers.5 The American public can easily be categorized as lazy, yet it seems they are willing to spend large amounts of money to become healthier. Park and recreation agencies need to capitalize on this economic opportunity. Refocusing programs and promoting the health benefits of current services will help agencies reach this expanding market. Supporting Economic Development What easier way is there to convince policy makers to approve funding for a project, facility or service than to show what the economic benefit it will have to the city, county or district? Economic impact studies are vital to show the value of parks and recreation to the economic vitality of a community. Although most economic impact studies usually test just the increase/decrease of enrollment fees in relation to the expenses of that program/event, studies should be made to the amount of secondary spending that happens in the immediate community: restaurants, gas stations, hotels/motels, sporting equipment, arts/craft materials or job creation. Not to mention the value parks and recreation may add to the community through lower health costs, increased tax revenues, corporate relocations and increased property values. The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) commissioned a study of economic benefits the district confers on the East Bay region. The goal of the district was to show that open space, parks, trails and other recreation facilities are an essential part of a community, and that the vital economy of the region is linked directly to “quality of life” benefits. The study was also intended to assure its continued vitality and responsiveness to the needs of its constituents. EBRPD serves two counties which includes about 2.4 million people. It is responsible for over 91,000 acres of parks, open space and trails, including 59 regional parklands and 1,000 miles of trials. The study found that 90% of East Bay residents visit local parks at least once each year while the average resident visited local parks five times a year. The report showed that EBRPD has a positive economic impact in the areas of:
Quality of Life The probability of a family or business moving to a particular community increases as the perceived quality of life increases. Parks and recreation is a key component when discussing quality of life, others include public safety, traffic, environmental concerns and educational resources. Yet when discussing the other quality of life components, parks and recreation impacts those areas as well. EBRPD found that the presence of its public safety officers in and around parks had an effect on the neighborhoods adjacent to those parks. Traffic congestion is eased by the use of trails and greenways when traveling between neighborhoods and to local retail areas. Estimated use of regional trails in EBRPD was about 750,000 visits annually. And parks help environmental concerns by providing open space, fresher air, and cleaner water. Property values Regression analyses conducted during the 1970s concluded that properties adjacent to large parks and open spaces, with minimum noise, traffic, and user conflicts, derive as much as 30% of their value from these amenities, with a general range of 10% to 30%.6 The direct benefit of this to the city is the increased property taxes paid by the homes near a community park or greenway. User Utility Another way to view the economic value of parks and recreation is to view the “user utility.” Although most park, open space and trail users pay nothing when using these resources, there is an intrinsic value that can be placed on them. User utility is defined as an individual’s perceived value of the experience of a park visit. A conservative estimate of total user utility associated with visits to EBRPD facilities in dollar terms approaches $74 million each year.7 The user utility associated with park usage was estimated at $6.52 per visit and for regional trails $1.84 per visit. Studies in the area of user utility are currently being done on California beaches. Economist know that beaches have some intrinsic value. “Beaches must be very valuable, yet we know very little about the magnitude of those values,” states David Layton, an economist at the University of California, Davis. Layton plans on looking at such beach amenities as fine sand, shells, lifeguards, surfing, and parking. The goal is to put a monetary value on the average visit to the beach. This value will help policy makers when discussing environmental issues that may result in beach closures. Impact on Retail Centers Another economic impact on the local community of parks and recreation is the money spent by participants of programming, sports leagues and park users in retail stores. Participants in soccer leagues must buy uniforms, soccer balls and knee pads. A participant in an art class will have to buy paints, canvasses, and brushes. The study by EBRPD found that expenditures in East Bay sporting good stores of park-related durable goods approached the $236 million range and that $64 million in net new direct expenditures on durable goods occurred due to the presence of the park district.8 Tourism For some communities, tourism is the major source of income. Parks and recreation can play an important role in attracting tourist to a community. One of park and recreation’s roles is in providing attractive parks, campgrounds and beaches. The second is by sponsoring events, festivals and sports tournaments. Factor in the money spent by tourist at local restaurants, hotels and gas stations and it is easy to see how tourism is vital to the economic climate of some communities. The $64 million estimated by EBRPD doesn’t include the trickle down value of parks and recreation. Those employees of the sporting good stores now have discretionary income to spend in the community. The sporting good stores also buy products and services from other local businesses. Employees of the park and recreation agency also spend money in the community. Economic experts have multipliers that can estimate what that value may be. The economic value of parks and recreation is far more reaching than just the amount of money spent by participants in fee-based programming. When considering such factors as quality of life, economic vitality, tourism and user utility, it becomes easy to see just how important parks and recreation is to truly creating a community. Footnotes 1. “The Health Gazette,” Karl Hempel, M.D. 2. Allison DB, Fontaine KR, et al. Annual deaths attributable to obesity in the United States. JAMA. 1999; 282(16):1530-1538. 3. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kuczmarski RJ, Johnson CL. Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960-1994. Int J Obes. 1998; 22:39-47. 4. “2000 – 2001 Work Plan,” City of La Palma Recreation & Community Services 5. Colditz GA. Economic costs of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1992; 55:503-507s. 6. “Quantifying Our Quality of Life,” East Bay Regional Park District, Economic & Planning Systems and Strategy Research Institute 7. Ibid 8.
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