Features
Using Design to Reduce Crime
Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) can reduce crime in your parks and facilities.
Triple Bottom Line: Design Matters
Thoughtful designs that encourage social well-being, physical health and cultural appreciation make for well-loved, well-used parks.
Additional Articles
Designing Change
NRPA Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publishing and Editorial Director, Gina Mullins-Cohen salutes the behind-scenes teams who plan the layout and execute the building or renovation of park and recreation facilities.
Notable News
Stay up to date on what’s happening in parks and recreation with the latest news from around the field.
Adventure Races: Fun, Healthy Community Programming
A customizable, self-sustaining event for all ages and fitness levels.
From the Director’s Chair
Gain insight from high-level park and recreation professionals on how they tackle various weighty issues.
Parks, Recreation and Water in Flint, Michigan
What impact has the water crisis in Flint had on the city's parks and recreation department?
Outdoor Smoke-Free Policy Development
A survey of Illinois park and recreation agencies reveals the steps needed in developing a smoke-free policy for your agency.
Lightning Strikes
Some interesting facts about one of nature’s most powerful sources of energy: Lightning.
An Early Innovator
Over the course of her 37 year career, Mary Scheurer increased Portland's park and recreation facilities threefold and created the 8-mile Riverwalk trail that encircles the city.
Young Athletes: Programming for the Future
The Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department/Therapeutic Recreation Section pilots Special Olympics Young Athletes Program, focused on early skills development for children of all abilities under 8 years of age.
Gun Rights Tested in Parks and Public Spaces
Jurisdictional variations in “open carry” gun laws complicate agency and employee responses to citizens openly carrying guns in park and recreation facilities.
Pool Cool
Chilly winter temps are no match for the dozens of Auburn, Alabama, residents who for the past four years have steeled themselves for a cold shock before participating in the annual Polar Plunge.
Building Dynamic Playgrounds
Using research-based evidence, the concept of dynamic play guides playground design with nine easy-to-understand criteria in an effort to get children playing longer, socializing more and getting more exercise.
Six Hundred Seconds to a Better You
This is the amount of time in a natural setting necessary to trigger the healthy benefits associated with being outdoors.
Hosts Needed for Scotts MLB Annual Pitch Hit & Run
Scotts MLB Pitch Hit & Run (PHR) is celebrating its 20th consecutive year as the Official Skills Competition of Major League Baseball, and NRPA is again encouraging departments to host a free local event.
Professional Development Calendar
NRPA is dedicated to providing learning opportunities to advance the development of best practices and resources that make parks and recreation indispensable elements of American communities.
Member Spotlight: Trace Stevens, CPRP
Parks & Recreation asked Trace Stevens, CPRP, to talk about his passion for the field and where he sees parks and recreation headed for the future.
Join the World of Cooperative Purchasing
NRPA Premier Members can register with U. S. Communities to gain access to the thousands of quality products from multiple suppliers.
Americans Continue to Show Widespread Support for Parks and Recreation
Most Americans, spanning across virtually every demographic group including age, income and political affiliation, share a deep love of public parks.
Communities Rallying for Health
What some Austin, Texas, communities are doing to combat high rates of obesity and diabetes.
Becoming Essential
NRPA's most recent Innovation Lab in San Diego, California, explored creative ways to secure funding for the essential services provided by park and recreation agencies.
NPS Rim of the Valley Stretches Park Access and Habitat Connections
The National Park Services calls on Congress to expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and provide urban populations with easy access to its resources.
Mayors Place Parks High on Their Priority Spending List
What does it mean for parks and recreation in light of the 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors that shows the country's mayors, regardless of their city size or their political bent, rank parks fifth on their list of 12 top big-ticket priorities?