Parks and recreation offices often get a bad rap for being mostly pointless and a waste of funding. This thinking makes sense if you don’t understand the major impact this branch of local government has on your everyday life. Much like running water, sewage, and waste management, parks and recreation services are easy to take for granted in developed countries. Once you see their impact, however, you’ll understand why they deserve funding.
1. They Design Natural Spaces
When humans began developing cities, they were working with open land and wild, untamed nature. With little thought given to the long-term effects development would have on the environment on a local and global level, cities quickly became overrun by concrete roads and metal structures. That would be the current state of things if communities had not come together to preserve land and place parks and recreation offices in charge of it.
Today, your parks and rec department is responsible for the nature preserve in your city that houses flora and fauna native to your region. The people who run the offices design playgrounds, choose safe playground sets appropriate for your kids, and hire gardeners to plant rose gardens. Thanks to their hard work, you can take your kids to the park on a Saturday afternoon or walk around a man-made lake after work.
2. They Keep Parks Clean
But the work doesn’t stop there. Parks and rec departments are also charged with keeping parks and natural spaces clean and well-maintained. If you’ve ever walked through a playground or park and seen garbage littering the ground, graffiti on the walls, and playground structures falling apart, that’s likely due to an underfunded parks and rec department. A city without the funds or the staff to take care of these things can quickly fall apart.
You can find, in even the most overpopulated, busy cities, beautifully, clean, pristine parks; that’s because of the parks and rec office. Sufficient funding can ensure plenty of park officials are on staff to keep bathrooms clean, empty overflowing garbage cans, mow lawns, and even prune trees and plant flowers. Playgrounds stay safe and updated, and kids can run free while parents sit on comfortable benches nearby to relax. This is the power of funding.
3. They Maintain Nature Trails
Maybe playgrounds aren’t your thing, and you spend more of your outdoor time hiking, walking, or biking in nature. Parks and rec departments are largely responsible for nature trails too. Whether local, state, or federal, the land is watched over by some form of parks and rec officials. While those spaces can often feel wild and unplanned, a truly wild space would likely have hazardous conditions that make them unsafe for most foot and bike traffic.
It is the parks and rec staff who monitor trails for fallen trees, flooded walkways, dangerous pits and cracks in paths, and more. Then, they send teams out to hack through tree trunks, prune back encroaching bushes, and repair dips and holes in the path, so you can enjoy your time in nature. The best-funded departments will even have safety patrols that monitor trails to make sure visitors are safe and adhering to park rules.
4. They Organize Community Classes
If you’ve ever wanted to take a yoga class, learn to knit or crochet, or join a softball or soccer team, your parks and rec department may have one to check out. Without these services, you could be limited to taking a yoga class from an expensive studio that may not even be in your own city. And if you wanted to join a soccer or baseball team, you might be out of luck entirely if you’re not in high school.
Many cities have community centers with gyms, pools, and sports fields designed for recreational classes and teams. It is the parks and rec departments that find and hire coaches, teachers, and experts in other subjects, so they can offer classes and teams for the community. And because they’re community services funded by tax dollars, you will often pay significantly less to join than you would for a private class.
5. They Plan Community Events
An important predictor of the health and longevity of a human being is their involvement in the community. Especially for single people who move to a new city or elderly people without family, it can be so easy to go friendless and become isolated. This state of being can lead to depression, health problems, and even death that comes sooner than it needs to. Fortunately, this situation isn’t inevitable.
Well-funded parks and rec offices often plan community events that bring people out of their homes and out of their isolation. Citywide barbecues, Fourth of July festivals, and more get people of all ages mixing and mingling, making friends, and establishing connections. Even if you don’t make friends at these events, you are more likely to feel like you’re part of something larger than yourself — a community — and that’s a positive health marker in itself.
In the end, parks and recreation offices deserve funding because they serve an essential role in your community. Indeed, they are the heart of the community, the centralized meeting spot, and the driver of connections. So, get involved, support your parks and rec offices, and take advantage of the city services available to you. Take a class, join a team, and have some ribs and a drink with your neighbor. You’ll likely be happier and healthier, when you do.
