Publication

This handbook takes a close look at the revenue-generating options granted by sates to local governments and at the variety of ways in which communities are using these tools to support parks, open space and recreational facilities.

This report examines the ways in which communities can fund urban parks and recreational facilities through the use of fees, domains, and corporate donations. Funds thus generated can build new facilities, provide services and ensure maintenance of facilities and equipment.

People value the time they spend in city parks, whether walking a dog, playing basketball, or having a picnic. Parks can provide measurable health benefits, from providing direct contact with nature and a cleaner environment, to opportunities for physical activity and social interaction.

This article identifies eleven steps that can be taken to transform public spaces into vibrant community places.

This article explains how to design public spaces for physical activity and why doing so is important to community health.

Trails and greenways have economic, as well as recreational and health benefits. Both stimulate tourism and recreation-related spending, and have positive impacts on quality of life. This report identifies the numerous economic benefits of trails and greenways in the US.

This toolkit helps communities put an economic value to amenities such as rivers, trails and greenway corridors.

For those concerned that green spaces may foster crime and illegal activity, evidence now exists that the opposite may be true. When adjacent to residential areas, green spaces have been shown to create neighborhoods with fewer violent and property crimes and where neighbors tend to support and protect one another.

This Guidebook will help communities implement designs for streets that are safe, efficient and aesthetically pleasing for both people and cars.

The National Governors Association explains how states and communities can encourage New Community Design, or mixed-use, mixed-income, walkable developments that lack sprawl.