American’s Passionate and Supportive of Parks

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Americans have a passionate and unwavering support for local and community parks, according to a study commissioned by NRPA and conducted by The Pennsylvania State University. Released today, Americans’ Broad-Based Support for Local Recreation and Park Services is an update to a study conducted in 1992. What we found is that during the past 25 years, the support and passion for local and community parks has remained strong even as the ways we interact and entertain each other have dramatically evolved. This report is filled with data points on Americans’ support and use of parks, number of Americans who live near a park, percentage of Americans who have participated in organized recreation activities and more.

Key Study Findings

The key takeaways from the Americans’ Broad-Based Support for Local Recreation and Park Services report include:

    1. An overwhelming majority of Americans assert that they personally benefit from local parks and that their communities benefit from local parks.
    1. Americans are in agreement that NRPA’s Three Pillars—Conservation, Health & Wellness and Social Equity—are chief priorities for local parks.
    1. Parks are a great value: 4 in 5 Americans concur that local parks are well worth the tax dollars spent on them.
    1. This passion for local parks has gone unabated over the past 25 years, even with dramatic demographic shifts in the United States and the ways technology transformed how we interact with others and entertain ourselves.
  1.            Support for local parks is widespread, spanning different age groups, income strata, household types and political affiliations.

Are Parks Worth the Investment?

Perceptions Study Graphics

The study also finds that 4 in 5 Americans believe their local parks are well worth the average amount of $70 per person paid in local taxes every year with over 30% believing they are worth even more.

Dig deeper here with interactive graphics to see how all Americans–crossing nearly all age, income, household format and political strata–support their local parks.

 

 

Why This Matters: Local Parks Transform Our Neighborhoods, Towns and Cities into Vibrant Communities

Despite the tight fiscal environment, Americans agree that local, state and national leaders need to dedicate financial resources to support, sustain and expand local park and recreation agencies. As indicated by their strong support, Americans do not view their local park and recreation system as a luxury, but instead as a vital part of what makes their neighborhood a vibrant, dynamic community.

About Americans’ Broad-Based Support for Local Recreation and Park Services

This report is a follow up to the landmark 1992 study The Benefits of Local Recreation and Park Services: A Nationwide Study of the Perceptions of the American Public.

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http://www.nrpa.org/uploadedFiles/nrpa.org/Publications_and_Research/Research/Park-Perception-Study-NRPA-summary.pdf