NRPA Connect members share their successes with therapeutic recreation for returning veterans.
An annual review of fitness participation in America shows numbers that may explain some trends in parks and recreation.
Idris Al-Oboudi, recreation services manager for Manhattan Beach, California, looks at the greater meaning of parks and recreation from a unique philosophical perspective.
Prince George's County, Maryland's Department of Parks and Recreation uses exciting aquatic facilities and engaging programs to promote swimming competence and safety among its minority-majority population.
NRPA Connect members share their insight on maintaining effective community relations with city hall.
Parks departments can team up with Community Tennis Associations to fill their tennis courts.
A recent report by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service shows a promising uptick in wildlife-related recreation.
Los Angeles park staff engage kids from conflicting neighborhoods and make a measurable impact on reducing gang activity among participants.
The realities of the post-recession era need not mean doing less with less.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island's new recreation director pulled off several exciting programs with zero budget for programming.
Asheville, North Carolina's Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department brings arts and more to the public with a traveling arts mobile.
A look at the correlation between hunger, poverty, obesity, dependence on food assistance, and the role played by park and recreation agencies
The concept of the Grand History Trail, a long-distance trail linking significant historic locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, was conceived by Don Gogniat, former vice-chair of the York County Rail Trail Authority. While not a “done deal” yet, the trail planning has gained national organizational supporters and significant regional and local support.
The universal attractiveness of universally accessible play environments
As the 2012 London Olympic Games begin, an untold number of the 529 U.S. athletes learned their sport in public and military recreation programs. Some past, future, and current Olympic athletes with roots in public recreation programs reflect on their journeys and how public and military recreation has helped guide their careers.
The City of Portland, Oregon, honors former Director of Parks and Recreation Charles Jordan with a community center bearing his legacy both in name and existence.
Economic curveballs have affected everyone in the past few years, and parks and recreation agencies certainly aren't immune. Fortunately, the light at the end of the tunnel may be closer than you realize.
The parks, recreation, and tourism department in this southern gem of a town provides its citizens with world-class performing arts as well as more traditional activities.
An Atlanta suburb's park facilities once hosted international teams during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and they continue to keep the Olympic gold dream alive for many local residents.
Establishing a community garden takes minimal resources but provides ample opportunities for kids to grow and interact with diverse cultures within the community.
Soldier Field becomes LEED certified, National Public Lands Day is September 29, National Association of Recreation Resources Planners awards, and the Trust for Public Land's new ParkScore ranking system for cities.
New research looks into the motivations and conflicts for horseback riders in Minnesota, and explores the often overlooked health and tourism benefits of this recreational activity.
The latest U.S. Census report reveals five major population trends that will dramatically affect park and recreation agencies and the services they provide.
Darell Hammond, the founder of KaBOOM!, offers insight into revitalizing community parks and building community involvement through new playgrounds.
Statistics reveal that residents in walkable neighborhoods in Toronto use their car less often and have lower BMIs than those in less walkable neighborhoods.
Quarries are everywhere. The construction industry’s insatiable need for sand, gravel and stone for roads, buildings and landscaping keeps the extraction industry constantly digging holes in the ground and taking huge bites out of hillsides from coast to coast. In recent years, parks and recreation agencies and municipalities have been discovering these often hidden resources and turning them into popular--and economically vibrant--recreation facilities.
The saga of California’s troubled state park system will reach a sad milestone on June 30, 2012, when the California Department of Parks and Recreation will close a significant proportion of the 70 state parks on its closure list.
The mission of Sprite's "Spark Parks" program, in the words of Coca-Cola North America vice president Michael Matthews, is “to refresh neighborhood basketball courts.”
Economist Stephen Fuller discusses what this slow but steady climb out of economic recession means for parks and recreation professionals.
A local elected official in Loudoun County, Virginia, pushes competing park supporters to find common ground.
News, milestones, publications, and awards relevant to the parks and recreation field.
Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, is a long-time observer of public spaces--and he writes about the factors that cause people to love where they live. In our shift from an industrial- to a knowledge-based economy, he contends, abundant, walkable, “serendipitous” public spaces have come to represent the new gold standard of community attractiveness. “A park is not a frivolity.”
The New Normal. Paradigm Shift. These two phrases are now essential everyday language, but what do they mean--economically speaking--to parks and recreation? Felicia Leonard, Administrative Support Manager in Clearwater, Florida, explains the paradigm shift that has transformed the city from a recreation service provider to a service facilitator for specific programs
Launched more than three years ago, Reading Aces is a nonprofit after-school literacy program founded by a high school student. Brette Machiorlette and her team of high school volunteers visit various Houston-area parks and recreation centers loaded with picture books and snacks. These teen volunteers work shoulder-to-shoulder with elementary students and help foster a love of books through the magic of oral reading.
When they read about a proposal in the middle of the last decade to build a six-lane toll road through San Onofre State Park in Orange County, California, documentary filmmakers David Vassar and Sally Kaplan set out to produce a film showcasing “the priceless legacy that state parks protect and to celebrate the individual citizens who worked so hard to preserve them.”
