Good Parks are Good for the Economy
from the Gotham Gazette
The surge in development spurred by the High Line in New York City is the latest exhibit in the growing stack of evidence that having beautiful, well-maintained parks is much more than a nice amenity cities can ignore when times are hard. Creating and maintaining parks stimulates the economy and also provides quantifiable recreational and environmental benefits along with other services and savings to taxpayers. In the most recent analyses of the economic benefits of parks, a study found that Central Park in new York City contributed $1 billion to the city's economy in 2007. More

Kids of Parents Who Value Exercise Are More Active
from Health Day
Children are more likely to join a sports team or be active if their parents like team sports, U.S. researchers report. The researchers studied 681 parents and 433 fourth- and fifth-grade students at 12 schools in Houston to reach that conclusion. The children -- both boys and girls -- of parents who valued high-intensity team sports watched less TV, spent less time on their computers, and were more active than other children. More

Being Blind Doesn't Take Away Players' Will to Win
from the Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Relying on ears instead of eyes, Chuck Gilbert stretched out, snagged the ground ball and raised it to record an out. Clad in a softball jersey, padded football pants and a blacked-out ski mask, Gilbert plays the shortstop equivalent for the Spartanburg, S.C., Lions beepball team. Beepball is an adaptive version of softball for blind people. More

Culture of Competition: Community Funds Help Rising Cost of Baseball
from the Gainesville Times
While the cost to play Little League has inflated with the rest of the world’s expenses, the original spirit of allowing participation no matter one’s socioeconomic background has remained the same. In January 2006, the Board of Directors for the Gainesville, Ga., Parks and Recreation Department began the Children at Play Fund to assist children otherwise unable to afford to play. In 2009, three percent of the 449 Little League participants for the Gainesville Parks and Recreation Department used the fund. More

San Francisco Web Site to be a One-stop Spot for Info on Parks Open Spaces
from the San Francisco Examiner
A new, interactive Web site launching soon will be a single go-to source for all information about what’s going on in The City’s parks and recreation spaces.The site, Park Portal, was born of a brainstorming session by the San Francisco Parks Trust last year and has been in the works ever since, said SFPT spokesman Peter Tucker. The Parks Trust is a nonprofit that focuses on supporting The City’s parks. More

Colorado Lt. Governor Pushing Kids to Spend More Time Outside
from The Associated Press via KRDO-TV
Colorado Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien is headed to Colorado Springs to continue promoting youth and the outdoors. O'Brien is touring the state this summer to encourage youths to spend more time outdoors. The lieutenant governor says outdoorsy kids are less likely to have health problems and more likely to appreciate conservation. More

Unique Facelift for California Park
from the Los Altos Town Crier
The city of Los Altos, Calif., capped a nearly six-year process of revamping playgrounds last week, installing the final structure in the project at Heritage Oaks Park. According to Dave Brees, special projects manager, the Heritage Oaks playground overhaul is the first of its kind in the Bay Area. "We kept in mind childhood obesity in going through with this playground," Brees said. "We want to encourage adventure and body coordination, and this design appealed to us over the more sedative ones." More

Texas City Launches New 'Passport' Program to Get Families Outdoor and Active
from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Arlington, Texas, Parks and Recreation Department wants you to grab your passport but leave the luggage behind for some local outdoor adventures. The city’s new Passport Arlington program aims to get families exploring Arlington’s 4,000 acres of parks, pools, golf clubs, the tennis center and even public libraries. By collecting stamps at participating facilities or city events, passport holders can earn small prizes. More

Pools Make Splash, Golf on Upswing in Missouri City
from the Joplin Globe
Joplin, Mo., yielded a bumper crop of swimmers and golfers so far this summer that the parks director says may have been sprouted by economic conditions, warm temperatures and an investment in recreational amenities. At a time when many other cities across the nation are grappling with budgetary problems that have caused them to close public pools, Joplin is seeing more business than ever before. More

Group Seeks Private Funds for Minnesota Parks
from the Star Tribune
The goal is ambitious: Add 17,000 acres of parkland and 700 miles of trails to the seven-county metro area in the next 20 years. The cost? About $200 million. That's a lot of money for governments to come up with in these economic times, so the Metropolitan Council has formed a private, nonprofit fundraising group to help pad the bank account. The Regional Parks Foundation of the Twin Cities will focus on raising private money to acquire land and raise awareness about the regional parks system. More

Opinion: Saving Park's Resources Won't Affect Recreation
from the Morning Call
The Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania is increasingly being seen as a desirable place to live and work, and with good reason. Residents of the Lehigh Valley are fortunate to have abundant cultural, recreational and natural resources to enjoy. Recently, trends in population growth and land use change indicate that the region has experienced a development boom that threatens to spoil much of what we love about the Lehigh Valley -- open spaces and high-quality waterways. Fortunately, there are several local governments, businesses and community organizations that understand that to preserve this quality of life, we must protect our natural resources. More

Top 10 Green U.S. Cities
from the Mother Nature Network via the Bellingham Herald
Although the EPA has not established official criteria for ranking the greenness of a city, there are several key areas to measure for effectiveness in carbon footprint reduction. These include air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED-certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make green lifestyle choices (organic products, buying local, clean transportation methods) easy. Mother Nature Network's editorial team rounded up their top 10. More